Report #1

Introduction

Greetings all,

I'm sure everyone expected this, given the major position changes that swept the Brotherhood this last week, but here's a brand new Voice report from a brand new Voice, and that means starting with a bit of an introduction.

For those unaware, Aidan Kincaid is a recent character I've made for the purposes of fiction writing. More of you will know me by my old name—Shadow Taldrya—as its the name I still use for communication purposes like IRC and email. I've been a member of the Brotherhood for just over thirteen years now. I'd be the middle child in terms of DB age, younger than the decrepit members like Jac and Howie, but older than most of you who joined during Muz's reign as Grand Master.

When I started out, I was a hardcore gamer. Jedi Knight, Jedi Outcast, Republic Commander, Battle Front… these were my mainstay activities in my first few years as a member. Writing to me, at the time, was for Krath. A decade later and that has changed completely. (I only whore D3 for CFs now!) For the last few years I've been heavily invested in the fictional and character development aspects of the Brotherhood. I've worked with Mav and Sarin in the past and recently on various fiction-related projects and have now been given the chance to run some of my own.

As one of those old, crabby members, I'm not really down with all the newfangled technolomogies, but if anyone ever has something they want to discuss or complain about, email is the best way to ensure I get your message. You can also catch me on IRC in #db as Shadow, Sh4dwhr, or (most probably) Shad-away in the evening hours. I'm more than happy to talk or explain things or bitch about things with everyone.

Now, with all that out of the way, let's begin.

One thing to mention: In writing this report, I discovered that I had waaaaaaaay too much to write about. I've axed about a third of it and will send that information out in additional news posts next week. Everyone be grateful!

Position Shuffle

So, the first thing I learned after getting Voice was that I had way too many positions. Early in Mav's term as Voice, he took control of the role of Combat Master of the ACC. And with me already being Wiki Tribune, I decided my workload was insane.

After discussion with Sarin and Mav, we decided it would be best to open up applications for Combat Master and Wiki Tribune. CM and the ACC have (since their resurrection) been a part of the Voice's office, and the Voice and CM work together on the ACC. Wiki Tribune, however, has always been under the direct control of the Grand Master and Deputy Grand Master. Seeing as those two are busy guys, with hundreds of projects to deal with, we decided to add Wiki Tribune to the Voice umbrella. Below I'll explain a little more on how that works. However, both positions will retain their title and their staffs. Voice will serve a more managerial role and just pitch in on bigger projects, rather than the day-to-day.

CM Applications

When the ACC re-launched, we were unfortunately mired in a long-running vendetta and couldn't really afford to push this revitalized activity to the Brotherhood. Later, in the second round of Fading Light, we had a massive elimination tournament using the ACC that lasted months. Since then, there's been no focus on the ACC. No love.

For Combat Master, we're looking for a driven individual who can push ACC activity and create competitions and events to draw members into dueling it out or working together in coop to complete tasks. We want to see what ideas you have for the ACC. The more detail the better, so feel free to speak your mind.

Knowledge of the new Antei Combat Center, ACC rules, and judging are all a big plus. The Combat Master will be in charge of a staff of judges and will be responsible for ensuring matches are judged and ACC exams are graded in a timely manner. As mentioned, the CM will work closely with the Voice to further develop the ACC, but will take point on day-to-day operations and staff appointments/removals.

Applications should be sent to Sarin, Mav, and myself. Due Sunday, March 8 at midnight EST.

Wiki Tribune Applications

Wiki Tribune has, traditionally, been a job that involved monitoring the Recent Changes and correcting mistakes and chastising mistake makers. The Tribune is also in charge of overseeing that wiki standards are kept and dealing with journeymen character pages and approving them for promotion requirements. The Tribune will also be responsible for developing and maintaining guides for page layouts.

We want to expand that job a bit. The wiki is the Brotherhoods archive. All our lore and history is stored there. The Wiki Tribune, therefore, is something of an Archivist. Over the last two years, the Brotherhood has been embroiled in a massive event. Part of the Tribune's new duties, and those of his/her staff, will be to help chronicle the history of these major events and DB history in general. An example of this can be found on the Dark Crusade page.

Knowledge of how to use mediawiki is important. Template creation, and understanding wiki rules and etiquette are a big plus. With the new part of the job, writing abilities are also very useful to have. The wiki is an important part of the Brotherhood, show us that you have the skills to oversee the wiki and staff, and create articles and content. Show us your wiki and writing skills, and ideas you have to further improve the wiki.

Applications should be sent to Sarin, Mav, and myself. Due Sunday, March 8 at midnight EST.

Competitions

It's My First Day… — This is a competition being run by Andrelious (Mark) for Second Level Crescents (will be first soon based on the number of participants already). The prompt involves you writing about your character's first day in the Brotherhood.

The War Is Over! — This competition is being run by Darkblade with help from Chizz. The prompt involves you detailing how your character deals with the aftermath of the Great Jedi War.

Both competitions are being judged using the Fiction Rubric and are awarding Crescents and Clusters of Ice. Be sure to check them out! Expect some competitions from the Voice office within the next two weeks.

Current Projects

Character Sheets 2.0

The current version of the Brotherhood's Character Sheet was released more than a year and a half ago. As most of you who were around for the old system know, the new CS was a departure from what we had before as we turned away from a gaming system based on "dice rolls and modifiers" to a system that promoted defining a character's physical, personality, and combat traits.

While I am a big fan of the system Mav released, there has always been room for improvement and enhancement. To that end, the Voice office (originally under Mav) began the process of working on an update and expansion of the current Character Sheet. We have dubbed it "CS 2.0". The update will see a lot of small fixes to the existing lists of powers and skills as well as an expansion on feats, aspects, and disciplines. Wally (that former Arconan Consul guy) has headed the project since before I took over as Voice, and he and his team have done some excellent work in terms of expansion.

Unfortunately, progress slowed a bit during our massive three-pack of vendettas (DC, FL, GJW), but now that we have conquered everything that needed conquering, the team is back at work. Part of these updates will coincide with some of the future plans Mav and Sarin have hinted at in their reports. Look forward to hearing more about CS 2.0 in the comings weeks!

Shadow Academy Courses

Prior to getting Voice, me and my Wiki Tribune staff were embroiled in much needed updates to the various Wiki courses in the Shadow Academy. After Voice, my list of SA courses to work on quadrupled! That's okay, though. The Headmaster, in conjunction with myself and busybody old people, has some cool plans in the works to expand the Academy's offering of writing-based courses—particularly those relating to "combat writing". I have pretty much just been dropped into the middle of active discussions, so I'll share more on these future courses later.

Aside from new courses, we also have plans to review and update the ACC courses and the old writing courses (Poetry, RO Studies, and the like). I'll be talking to the talented people in charge of those to touch base and see how things are going.

For you SA courses fans, you have lots to look forward to.

Fiction Society

Both Mav and Sarin have teased this in the past. Now that I've been appointed Voice, that torch has been passed on. The Fiction Society is meant to be the writing equivalent of gaming's GMRG. Like the GMRG, the Fiction Society will have a backstory, ranks, and special goodies for those who advance. The difference between the Society and the GMRG, is that because we're based on writing fiction, we can make greater use of our backstory to tie into the events and characters we use.

Mav and Sarin started this project with some really interesting ideas, and I'll be working with them to see those released to the rest of you. Societies in the Brotherhood are all about pushing activity and what, in MMO terms, would be called "horizontal progression". Your character won't be getting any stronger, but you'll still be gaining new achievements and toys for the effort toy put in.

As most of you have noticed, the Cluster of Ice has started to have a big role in rewards for fiction, run on, and ACC competitions. Consider that a clue as to how some parts of the Fiction Society will work. And, as always, expect some cool stuff to enhance your characters and dossiers with!

In Closing

Yes. This was a very, very long report. I'm very happy I decided to cut large parts of it for future news posts. Might be a slightly better chance of everyone reading this now (doubt it). I'm not big on saving up information to announce it all at once. I like to announce things as I get information or as they're completed. So expect smaller news bits from me in the future as the Voice Office and Affiliates begin hammering out some of these great ideas we have for all of you.

Big thanks to Nobilus for the awesome report banner and separators and signature!!

Oh. And happy birthday, Jac! Congrats on getting older?