Report #6 - August 7, 2010 <-

Welcome everyone to another Voice-report. There's actually a lot of things to go through, including ACC updated, Wiki Audit information, competition winners and August competitions!

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We'll start things off with an update on the ACC. Our first step is to get the ACC Basics course updated, as the course itself is very confusing due to the various changes that have occurred over the last year or so. Vivackus is now getting the course updated, and there should hopefully be something out soon. I have also put together the list of pages associated with the ACC site, and we will be conducting a thorough clean-up and update of all the pages on the site. It has been a very long time since a comprehensive update has been made to the content, and it's about time we get it done. Along with that, we will work on a more advanced ACC course (that I know Taig has been chomping on the bit for :P). I have also gone through all of the ACC Halls and updated or deleted Halls as needed, due to the Clan -> House change and the fact we have an "open" Hall in the Genesis Combine.

Last, the first round of the 2v2 Ladder is almost over. There are only a few more posts to be made, and then I should have it all graded this week so that we can start on the next round of the Ladder. I hope everyone is cheering on their favorite team

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As it's a new month, that means all of the July competitions are over and the winners have been chosen (and medals already handed out). Below are the list of the winners and any other participants. Thank you to those that participated!

Past Imperfect

1. Ashia Kagan Keibatsu (Revan)

2. Xen'Mordin Vismorsus (Scholae Palatinae)

3. Eiko (Revan)

Koryn Thraagus (Scholae Palatinae)

Tyre Arvalis (Rogue)

Xantros (Scholae Palatinae)

Rian Aslar (Taldryan)

Zin Zalabim (Scholae Palatinae)

The Bounty

1. Justin Wayne (Revan)

2. RianAslar (Taldryan)

3. Tyre Arvalis (Rogue)

Design Your Own Vendetta

1. Kaira Rohana (Plagueis)

2. Kalak Ragnose (Scholae Palatinae)

The Battleplan

1. Maol Nor Lexu (Plagueis)

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Before I get onto the new competitions for August, I would just like to remind everyone that the opportunity to run your competitions on a DB-wide level are always open. I always see a number of competitions that are not explicitly geared towards their House or Battleteam. Most of the competition ideas can be easily converted and then used by the entire DB. The only competitions that are generally House/BT-specific are those that are trying to grow the very identity and history of their unit. Otherwise, I would highly suggest you poke the respective DC member (ie. The Fist for gaming, Voice for fiction, HRLD for gfx, etc...) and ask if your event can be run for the whole DB. This allows you to reach a larger audience; allows for greater rewards; increases the variety of competitions for everyone and it allows someone the opportunity to run competitions on a larger scale. Really, it's a win-win for everyone involved.

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Competition Time! Below are the new August competitions running. I sent out an e-mail to all the Houses a few days ago with these details, but just in case anyone forgot, here they are again!

Load the Can(n)ons #1 - Each month we will give you the opportunity of throwing it down with a character from the "real" Star Wars universe. Your job is to write the story of a battle between yourself and that character. For our first one, we thought we would face you off against Luke Skywalker during the time of the creation of the Jedi Academy. So think about facing a light-side version of a Grand Master...good luck :P

Other Realm, Part One - Fiction - You will be literally breaking the 4th wall in this competition where your Real-life self will be interacting with your DB character and the DB universe.

Other Realm, Part One - Graphic - Connected with the competition above, you will be showing the first meeting between yourself and your DB character.

For further details on all of these competitions please visit the links. The First part of the Other Realm competitions ends on August 15th and a second part will be available the next day. Load the Cannons will run month-long and we will be switching up the characters each month. Good luck!

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Going to focus the tail-end of this report on the Wiki Audit (as I've basically termed it :P). So first, let's have a little FAQ on just what this is all about

What is the Wiki Audit?

The Wiki Audit is a project that has been undertaken by the Voice's office, and involves going through all fictional articles on the DB Wiki and ensuring the content within that article realistically makes sense within the context of both the DB and Star Wars in general

What are you looking for?

There is not a definite guide that we are using, but instead just general things that we are looking for when reading through the articles. And I stress that this is very general and just about everything is taken on a case-by-case basis as there are very few moment of clear "violations"

• Interaction with canon characters (Meeting Luke Skywalker briefly is ok...saying you were his personal apprentice is not so ok. Interaction with canon characters and events is fine, but only in the periphery. You should never place yourself in the middle of such events of character lives)

• Timelines match up (Making sure that the dates people put in their articles match up to the dates that things actually happened)

• Plausible parentage (No, you are not the love-child of Palpatine and Darth Maul. Having any sort of parentage from canon-characters will generally be a no-no)

• Over-the-top non-DB history (This is the biggest point that is hit upon. A general idea that I like to keep in mind is that my time in the DB should be more exciting then my time outside of the DB. You are defined by what you do in the DB, and not outside of it. Since everyone starts from nothing, it makes no sense for you to be a great jedi/commando/mandalorian/badass. If you want a powerful character, then level-up within the DB and get those higher ranks. Otherwise, trying to artificially make your character greater than he/she really is will generally get a comment from us)

• Custom Weapons and Armor (While a lot of this will be removed with the possessions system, there are still some things that will never be approved in any system. Things like having anything made from cortosis or Mandalorian Iron will automatically be denied. Outside of that, having your own personal armoury of custom-made items is also far fetched for everyone but those at a higher level)

• DC supremacy over the Houses (This deals specifically when looking at House-based articles. One of the ideas that I revolve my questions around is whether the ideas presented in a House article seem to make it more powerful than the DC. If the answer is yes, then it will usually get noted. In the end, the Dark Council does "rule" the Houses, so if something is too good/powerful for the DC, then it should not appear in a House)

What is the Audit Process?

Character articles and House articles are treated in different manners. Character articles are currently being looked at by my Magistrate, Ji K'awiil. His job is to do the first run-through of an article and see if anything looks "odd". If so, he'll note it and send off a list to myself (with Windos and Muz currently being included as well should they have any comments). I will then take a second look at the article in question and make my own notes on whether I think it should be tagged or not. If I think it's taggable, I will place the { {Non Canon}} tag on the article and then explain why it was tagged on the discussion page

For House articles, I make an excel spreadsheet listing all of the articles I will be looking at (everything that deals with fictional elements of that House). I then go through each article and seeing if any should be noted. Once complete, I send this list off to the House Summit for discussion of what changes need to be made

How much have you done so far?

For House pages, I have completed Tarentum, Arcona and Naga Sadow. Next on the list if Plagueis, but I was waiting for things to die down a little as it has been pretty hectic with change from Clans to Houses. Character pages are roughly at the same point, with Ji either close to finishing or having already finished with the Naga Sadow pages. I know for myself, I've had to look at a little over 350 House-based pages.

You tagged my article! #@(^$^#*!!!

I've had to say this a few times, but just step back and take a few deep breathes. I understand that criticizing the work people have put into their articles can be very contentious (both House pages and individual character pages). However, please try not to take our comments personally. Take a moment to look at the comments themselves and not jump to any conclusions. I have tried to be very open in what we are doing, and am always willing to discuss any points we may have made. There is a lot of grey area to work with, so most things will not be clear-cut. I would much prefer to work with you to make your page that much better, rather than have to fight over ever issue.

What is the end goal of this?

Due to the fact that the Dark Brotherhood has become much more fiction-oriented, the very foundation of our "fictional reality" needs to be maintained and repaired at times. While there has always been members commenting on other pages due to various issues, a comprehensive approach has not been attempted before. As such, issues that may have gone unnoticed for many, many years are only now finally being looked at and pointed out. we are hoping to build that foundation on the wiki, so that going forward we will already know where the line in the sand is, as it were. we can use precedent when looking at new pages, while also helping us build a better guide for people to use when trying to create their character histories. We want to have a strong and creative fictional world for the DB that also makes sense with all of it's connected parts.

I hope this has all helped in some fashion, and please feel free to e-mail me at any time if you have any questions or concerns about what is happening

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Phew...now we come to the end of the report. Yay! For my little off-topic rant, I would like to talk about the current change into Houses and the various leadership spots connected to them. Not really singling out anyone, but most Houses have decided to "fill" every available position possible. While this is still less then we had with Clans, it still makes me scratch my head a little. Remember, we almost went with Houseless Clans, meaning there would only be 2 leadership positions for each unit in total. That should be a bit telling. I know I'm an outsider to all the Houses since I don't know the exact activity levels of each one, but I would ask that all leaders take a minute and ask themselves a few things before they go about developing all these battleteams. First, do I have the membership and activity levels to meet x amount of Battleteams? Are there enough members out there willing to be active to call for these units? Ok, now that you have determined your activity levels, the next question to ask is if I have the leaders necessary to fill these roles? If you do not have at least 2 applicants for each position, then the answer is basically "no". While I know the argument that "we need to train new leaders" is used in this case, the fact is that it is generally members who have been leaders previously who are given these jobs. And really, the "spaghetti against the wall" technique to determine who will work out is probably not the best way to go about things. We want quality leaders, and the best way to teach someone is to show them how it's done. The House Summit must set the proper example, while also working together. You do not need a position to do various "jobs" within a House, and in many cases leading an inactive Battleteam can be very disheartening, leading to a member never wanting to do it again or just quitting the DB altogether. Battleteams are a luxury, not a need, so they should be treated as such.

Report Lyrics:_ "I'm sorry I couldn't go, but I still know the song and the words and her name and the reasons."_

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In Darkness,

Dark Jedi Master Halcyon Taldrya

Voice of the Brotherhood

Sith Lord