Wow. It feels like a long time since my last report... surprising how this bi-weekly thing makes them much further apart than weekly.

1. Clan Feuds

My congratulations to the winners, your new Frigates are in the mail. From what I saw watching from the sidelines everyone seems to have enjoyed themselves. I'm hoping the Feuds have given everyone a taster of the types of competitions we can run around here. We've got the GJW coming up next but hopefully Clan Feuds will now see something of a revival, as I think these were the first since 2002.

My thanks especially to Duga and Korras for organising them. Both performed well given the circumstances, seeing as they both only had about a weeks notice to get things rolling.

Awards

In case some people are uncertain, the following have now been presented to the winning Clans:

Nebulon B2 Frigate Recipients: Clan Taldryan, Clan Naga Sadow

Corellian Gunship Recpients: Clan Arcona, Clan Tarentum

2xVT-49 Decimator Recipient: Clan Plagueis

VT-49 Decimator Recipient: Clan Scholae Palatinae

If you're at all curious what they do the easiest way to find out is to check out the stats on Wookieepedia. Just type the name in the search engine and you should pull it up.

2. Force Powers

Those of you who have been following my blog will know we're currently working on revising the core Force Powers list. It's virtually done, Kaiann and Dalthid have now seen the basic list. I'll be posting the draft version up on my blog sometime this week so everyone can take a look.

Now, I'm at a cross-roads over exactly what we do. With the GJW coming up I'm cautious about messing people around with new powers, new abbreviations, new rules, new ways of fighting, etc. I had been planning on holding off until after the GJW but now that I realise that would probably mean waiting until September I'm not too sure, as that's a long way away. If anyone has any views on the issue please mail me, the final call will be down to Dalthid and the ACC themselves, but I'd appreciate anyone's input nonetheless.

3. GJW - We have a date!!!!!!

That's right, if you've been talking to your Consul or reading Kaiann's blog you'll now know the GJW is set to kick off on June 14th. It's shaping up to be a very enjoyable comp, and if you liked the Feuds then be prepared for something much, much bigger with the GJW. It's going to last 10-12 weeks but we're phasing the events so you're not hammered with tons all at once. All in all, expect something a bit different and rather more original than any competition we've run in the past.

4. EHDB Transfer Policy

It's almost a taboo to discuss this stuff but oh well, it's currently on the table. If they haven't already your Consul will probably be contacting you in the next few days with details about the current draft EHDB transfer policy. It's a controversial issue, tends to end in arguments, and overall the source of some of the most polarised opinions in the club but it's something we've unfortunately got to deal with.

This is the first real time the club as a whole has been asked for their input so if you've got feelings on the issue please talk to your Consul rather than sit on them.

5. Mini Warm Up Tournament

Smoke's currently planning a small gaming tournament for the next couple of weeks, if all goes well it should start monday. It's not huge, just a small series of events, but should bridge the gap until the GJW arrives. I'm announcing it here simply because the awards are subject to change, so if you all get really active I'm more than willing to upgrade what's currently on offer, so consider that an added incentive to take part :)

6. Clan Systems

This has been on hold a bit while everyones been busy with the Feuds but I'm going to endeavour to get it settled once and for all over the next week. If you haven't discussed things with your Consul now is really the last chance, as I'll be looking to finalise locations in a couple of weeks and put up a map before the GJW so people can factor locations into their stories.

So people know, so far we've got:-

Arcona, near the Maw, Outer Rim.

Naga Sadow, near Antei, Outer Rim.

Taldryan, near Manaan and Zeltros, Expansion Region.

Tarentum, near the Minos Cluster, Outer Rim.

That means only CSP and Plagueis still have to decide.

It's been a good fortnight for Star Wars fans, especially if you've been following the E3 announcements.

Darth Bane: Path of Destruction

"The Sith were in shambles. In-fighting among their ranks allowed the Jedi to thwart their dark plans. One last battle to end an era resulted in the extinction of the Sith. Or so it was believed -- one Dark Lord survived.

From the ashes emerged Darth Bane, the lone Sith who was able to foresee the inevitable doom of the misguided order, and learn from this costly lesson. He forged a new order of secretive Sith, plotting from the shadows, carefully rebuilding power a generation at a time for centuries until the revenge of the Sith could finally be achieved.

Who was this Dark Lord? What events forged the man who would split from the Sith ranks and entirely redefine the order?"

OMG!!!! (yes, I'm a geek :P)

A new book on the block due for release later in the year, 26 September in fact, is a book about none other than Darth Bane, creator of the Rule of Two, founder of the Sith Order as it existed during the films, and so on. Does it matter? It's a book about the Sith! Woo!

Anyway... I know no more about it than you. They haven't released much information yet other than the title and the small snipet I posted above. It's likely to be something of an audience sampler as they had originally planned a nine book series set during the KOTOR period but scrapped it for the LOTF series. If this sells well we can probably expect a lot Old Republic books about the ancient Sith and Jedi.

Empire at War: Forces of Corruption

I think the following screenshot says more than I ever could:

Eclipse-class Star Destroyer. Eclipse.

FOC appears to be about a pirate organisation similar to Black Sun trying to steal the Eclipse while the Empire is preoccupied dealing with the Rebellion. The Death Star II appears as well so I'm guessing it starts around the time of ROTJ, whether it ends at the end of ROTJ or carries on into the future is unclear. What is certain is that it will be adding a lot of new vehicles and ships, and increasing map size by about 40% as well as adding both Super Star Destroyers and the Eclipse. There are other new features as well, such as being able to bombard planets from orbit with capital ships to destroy ground forces, etc. All in all it looks like it should add some very fun new features to the game. Its due out sometime in autumn.

I know it's not a game that's of all that use to us but an honorable mention deserves to go to Lego Star Wars II which is due out later in the year (its been delayed unfortunately). If you didn't play the original I encourage it, I always expected it to be stupid myself but I had a go last month and found it quite addictive. For a game aimed at kids its actually quite a good traditional platformer and pokes fun at the films well.

Darth Vader game per chance? Jedi Knight sequel? Who knows... unfortunately LucasArts aren't saying much. They unveiled this at E3 but were very tight lipped about exactly what it is. We know there is a Darth Vader game in the works so it could be that but it seems to feature playing as regular Jedi so might also be something entirely different. What is known is its meant to take advantage of the Nintendo Wii's motion sensor thingy to allow you to swing your lightsaber realistically, or something like that. Whether that kills the chance for a PC port remains to be seen. All we can say right now is that the future looks pretty good for Star Wars games and that they actually seem to be trying to take their time and produce things that are decent rather than churn out more poorly built games.

Lastly, as announced last report, we still have Legacy of the Force #1 and Legacy to look forward to over the next month. The first LOTF novel, Betrayal, is released May 30th, though I've heard some stores are already stocking it, the first Legacy comic is due out sometime in early June.

His Eminence

Dark Jedi Master Xanos Zorrixor

Deputy Grand Master