Pre-GJW Lockdown MAA Report – woo?

News

The Great Jedi War is scheduled for March 1st and the usual MAA restrictions are being implemented. Beginning on the 23rd, all inter-Clan transfers will be halted. They will be resumed after the conclusion of the war. This policy has been around since before I was a member; it helps us keep scoring in order for the war and prevents untimely ‘defections.’ If you want to transfer to a new Clan, you should do so before the 23rd. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait until after the war is concluded.

I received absolutely zero feedback on the promotion requirements. Sad times. Nevertheless, my offer stands. Direct all comments/criticisms/suggestions to my inbox as you will. I don’t interpret collective silence as acceptance – I know they’re not perfect. So please, if you have thoughts, don’t hesitate to share them.

Otherwise things are quiet…my report schedule was disrupted with the site downtime but we’re back!

Policy Updates and Clarifications

I have asked all Consuls to refrain from handing out any medals or promotions for the duration of the Great Jedi War (excepting Journeymen requirement promotions). The Grand Master may, at his discretion, issue field promotions to members during the war. Otherwise, do your best during the war and you will be rewarded once the war is over.

A special note for Journeymen: each event in the war counts as an event towards your competition completion requirements!

Projects

Medal Revision Project: To be worked on during the GJW while you all have fun

Super AWOL Check: Post-GJW

Promotion Requirements: Released – updated to version 1.1a

MAA Policy Project: To be worked on during the GJW while you all have fun

Staff

Wow – the Pole is still doing a great job as P:MAA…though he is slowly becoming more Sklibbish (aka, lazy). Still, he is not the permanent replacement.

I have dithered on the P:MAA applications for far too long and I’m not even sure if the applications I have are still valid. Therefore, I’m going to scrap all of them and open applications to the entire Brotherhood once again. If you applied and you still want to apply, go for it. You can even submit the same application if you want to. I apologize for this but I want to open the process again since some time has passed since I first started collecting applications.

Please note there are no limitations on who can apply for the position. There was last time; not anymore. Furthermore, you should treat this application not only as an application for P:MAA but also for MAA. This is not to say that I’m retiring or anything (still a lot of work to be done) but I want someone that I can start to train to replace me eventually. If I don’t think you’re fit for MAA, you’re not going to get this job. Take this very seriously and make your application strong and detailed. You have until the end of the Great Jedi War to submit applications.

Ask Kaek

I received this question in the last month:

_Kaek I was just hopping for a little clarification as to Equite Promotions, specifically to Exarch/Epis.

Is a current leadership position required and if so what level or are past (at current rank) positions taken into account. And if no leadership positions are available does it sort of become a situation of the only way advancement will be available is if an AED or QUA steps down and the member takes their place?

-Windos_

Here is my response for your illumination:

_If you'll indulge me, I'll be glad to explain to you what the current setup and rationale is behind higher level Equite promotions. Overtime, it has become noticeably more difficult to attain Elder rank. This isn't by design; it's organic. When I (and most members) think of an Elder, I think of someone who has been around for a long time and has probably served either on the Dark Council or as a Consul or Proconsul of a Clan. It used to be a lot easier to get Elder since many times Dark Council members would receive the rank almost as a courtesy. But since I first became MAA and even more so since Sarin became GM, this practice has fallen into disuse. In order to attain an Elder rank, we expect serious, long-term commitment and effort towards the overall well-being of the Brotherhood coupled with some degree of success. No explicit position requirement exists - but obviously it's a lot easier to create positive changes in the Brotherhood when you're on the DC. Still, anyone can attain Elder rank through their efforts provided they meet those requirements.

The only reason I bring up Elder rank is that because those ranks are so much more difficult to obtain than they used to be, it's far rarer for us to find newer Elders in the Clans in non-CON or DC positions. It used to be that Elder members were looked upon as role-models and younger members sought to learn the ropes from them. Now, with so few active Elders left in the general Clan membership, that role has devolved to an extent to the upper-level Equites. This raises the importance, prestige - and yes, requirements - for those promotions. We value our higher-level Equite members strongly and feel that these members need to be paragons of devotion to their Clan and the Brotherhood as a whole. We also expect them to be well-behaved and productive contributors. Rare will a member achieve Equite 4 without contributing to the Brotherhood community in some way.

To address your specific inquiries, there are simply no set-in-stone requirements for Equite promotions. We generally have an idea what we're looking for but there is no 'checklist' per se and I don't automatically disqualify someone over any kind of minutiae. As I said before, when considering Equite 4 promotions and, to a lesser extent, Equite 3 promotions, I'm looking to see if the member has contributed towards helping develop and lead his or her House and Clan. This does not require that the member be an AED or QUA (though it's considerably easier to do this from one of those positions) but if the member has significantly assisted the AED/QUA in their duties such that they have clearly had a large and positive impact on the House/Clan, I'm inclined to promote. That's really at the heart of it: I want upper-level Equite members to be more than merely active in terms of competitions and gaming. I want them to demonstrate leadership. This can be in the form of helping to mentor new members or running competitions randomly or whatever helps you guys do your jobs just so long as it's substantive and positive. I don't want to promote people to Equite 3 and 4 because they do a lot of competitions and play games. We can give medals for that. I also don't want to promote people to Equite 3 or 4 because they've been around for a long time. I'm looking for active, positive contributions in a leadership role (not position) that really help their House and Clan. Of course, general activity also significantly helps a case for high-level Equite promotion - it's a necessary but not sufficient condition for promotion.

Just so you know, I generally review lower-level Equite promotions myself (so DJK and Equite 1 promotions I just decide on my own). Everything higher gets discussed with the GM, DGM, JST, etc. so that it's not just me making the arbitrary decision.

Hope this helps_

Please submit more questions! I’m happy to answer.

Closing Remarks

Time to get back to work…bleh…

Good luck in the Great Jedi War, everyone!

Dark Jedi Master Syn Kaek

Master At Arms

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DJM Syn Kaek (Sith)/MAA/Dark Council [ACC: CL:3]

AK/GC-PoTP/SC-SoH/AC-ToSC/DC-GP/SN-BL/Cr-8A-2S-3E-5T-3Q/CF-SF/DSS-BL/SI-AuL/SoL-BE/LS-AuL/S:-9M-3R-1C-2D-3Do-4Dk-1Rm-14P

{SA: MVN}