A report, in which Muz talks about being a toolbag and censorship in the Brotherhood, pretends to spoil Horizons, announces a few low-radar awards, answers questions, and posts pics of a hot redhead in a Star wars swimsuit. Brought to you with limited commercial interruption thanks to copious amounts of caffeine and alcohol.

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The next vendetta, which I was planning for later this summer, is probably going to be postponed a little longer, as our comic book artist has been taking more time than we had expected. I am hoping to have Horizons launch this fall. The structure and storyline of this Vendetta will make it very easy (and provide higher than usual awards) for post-Vendetta clan 'feuds'. Feuds is in quotes because many of these events will be more cooperative in nature rather than cutthroat-wars as they all used to be.

Some people have asked for me to put out a few details about how Horizons will be. I'm not going to spoil the story, because that's just not cool. There was a not-so-hidden page at the end of the GJW comic that kinda teased what Horizons is about, but it's very obscure (hi, I'm Muz, have we met?). But here it is...

And since many of you have already seen this, I want to show off a work in progress from the next issue. It's black and white only, and no text has been added. But you can see the vast difference in artwork style, even though it is still Tony's work.

The story for the next vendetta will be more mature and 'dark' compared to some in the past. Hopefully, you'll enjoy it.

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I recently got word that Ji is looking to step back from Quaestor of the Light-sider house of Odan-Urr. As such, I am opening applications for one week to fill his spot. A good applicant would know where to look and what to include, but make sure that you at least include a 30-60-90 day plan for the house as well as a list of qualifications. Enterprising candidates would do well to take the leadership training exams on the Shadow Academy site and do some reading about what Quaestors do on the wikipedia.

Applications should be sent to Halc and I and must be received before 23:59 EST, May 6th 2012.

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Lately, there's been a lot of movement on the Comments sections of the News page. This has been interesting, to say the least. Comments have been all over the board, from respectful and calm, to belligerently supportive to obnoxiously phrased (Mostly Tarax:P). I, for one, appreciate the discourse, because it shows that people actually care enough about the club to stand up and make their voice heard. This allows us to see more than just the point of view that we see from where we sit. This is a good thing, as it helps us evolve our own viewpoints, shift our projects, and hopefully create a better club with a broader audience.

That said, there's a few things to keep in mind, and let's be honest, our mothers taught us this forever ago.

It's easier to catch flies with honey than with ....uhh...vinegar.

While probably not scientifically true, the point here is that the nicer that you are, the more likely that you will find receptiveness to your words. And yes, I know that I'm going to hear people complain about how they shouldn't have to be polite, that it is a leader's job to deal with this kind of attitude and disrespect.

To those people, I would like to gently remind them that we are all here of our own accord. NOBODY here gets paid to do what we do. We're all here because we want to give back to this club that we all have enjoyed. I'm not saying that you have to change the point of your discussion, but that you must remember to be respectful when you talk to people. It's just common courtesy. Everyone in this club is not your slave, you don't own them, and you shouldn't act like they owe you anything. We are members of a Brotherhood, after all.

And from a practical perspective, if you come at someone like a cranky and bitter old man, do not be surprised when they treat you like a cranky and bitter old man. You should be surprised when they don't. They are human, after all.

The other side of that is that there was a couple comments deleted. This has been a sore spot for me in a serious way for the past few days (since it happened). I have since directed those few people in the club that have access to moderate our comments to not delete any comments unless they contain game-breaking stuff: spoilers, malware links, etc. I do not want the Brotherhood to have a culture of censorship or repression. These are unhealthy in any organization, let alone one based completely on fun. I am generally loathe to draw the correlation to Astatine, because it seems to be our analogue to Godwin's Law, but in this situation, it actually applies somewhat.

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A little while back, Halc and I went through and gave out some well-deserved awards to Dark Councilors and Dark Summit people (Dark Summit is an old term basically covering DCers and their Staff) I made a news post at the time for the Coders, Orv and Jam3z who got some nice sacramental awards, but some of the others didn't get mentioned. So here we go.

Teroch Erinos Arconae (Dash) was awarded a Grand Cross of the Dark Side for his work as Combat Master and Praetor to the Mater at Arms. Vodo Biask Taldrya was awarded a Grand Cross of the Dark Side for his work as Voice of the Brotherhood. Benevolent Whiner Taldrya was awarded a Grand Cross of the Dark Side for his work as Wiki Tribune.

And as I mentioned earlier, Jam3z was awarded an Emerald Dagger, and Orv was awarded a Sapphire Blade.

I just wanted to take a moment and thank these folks again for their continued contributions to our club. I am hoping to have a bigger list to thank next time.

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The Old Republic is still going strong. The release of the new Legacy system as well as several new bits of content that got released has helped to keep people entertained and in-game. It also continues to be a strong aid in recruitment for the Brotherhood. We have one of the largest guilds around, and the fact that our guild has such a history, both in real-world terms and in in-character terms, positions us as ideal for those members who want a bit more from their Online Star Wars experience.

There are things that have been going on to help ease people into our club. Those of us who have been around for a while probably take things like the ACC and IRC for granted. Looking at such things with the eyes of a beginner tells a different tale. This is where the Shadow Academy comes into play. The courses and exams that the SA hosts are critical in helping these new members learn our ways, and even our traditions. They help to broaden understanding of canon works with courses on in-universe history and Order lore. these electives help to break up the monotony of just learning about how to work IRC and so forth. It's also not required of anyone, as promotion requirements don't require SA courses...they just are often some of the easier ones.

Recently, the SA came out with a TOR course. This was made to serve two purposes: 1.) to help non-TOR players understand a bit more about the game and 2.) to give TOR-based players an exam that they can easily pass for promotion requirements. There have been a few things suggested to help streamline the TOR exam, and Ronovi and Slagar are working to tweak things there. No exam launches perfectly, and this one is no exception.

Also, I should probably log on and see what the new stuff is like..I've been out of game for a month and a half or so now.

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Ask the GM time.

Sang asks "With Promotheus being released for use for DB-wide use, to what extent will this complement the SA grindpath?"

Prometheus is a great system that Jam3z created as a way to monitor what new members are doing, activity wise. This info is useful to us so that we can ensure that people are rewarded for their efforts properly. It's also great as a proto-grind path situation, because we will still want to have eyes on the members as they go through Grind Path (when it is done being coded) in case the code fails, or the members do activity outside of the grind path (so that they are awarded properly for those efforts not assigned by the code). So the short answer is 'A lot'.

Andrelious asks "With the ToR image above the news, it feels like the DJB is forsaking other, more traditional gaming. What is the official view on this?"

The official view is that while TOR is a huge deal right now (as it is still pretty new and very popular as both an activity and as a recruitment growth sort of scenario, a lot of energy is naturally going to be spent on it. We, as a club, support what our members do, and right now, many of the gamers are playing TOR. That said, our 'traditional' platforms, such as Jedi Outcast, Jedi Academy, the Battlefront series, Empire at War, etc are all still very much supported. It certainly seems like those platforms are pushed aside right now, but that is largely due to the amount of activity that TOR is generating. That said, MMO integration in vendetta events has always been ...tricky...to say the least. There's bound to be some speed bumps in that situation, so I would imagine a lot more 'traditional' games being played in Vendetta events (and in smart units looking to 'warm up' before the events).

For having such good questions, Snag and Andrelious both are awarded Dark Crosses. Watch next time for when I change my nick on IRC to 'AskTheGM' or email me your questions to get featured and a shining DC for your efforts.

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That's about all for this time. If you need anything, shoot me an email, look me up on TOR or PM me on IRC.

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