Prefect's Report
11.16.2008

Greetings troops. Today's Prefect's Report is a bit lengthy, but all of the information contained in this report is very important. So, without further adieu, I will get right into it.


*Army High Command*

- Major General Rizzit has accepted the position as Executive Officer of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General.

- 2nd Lieutenant Darr-Rann has accepted the position of Commander of Training.

Congratulations to both of these Officers.

As a side note, due to Darr-Rann's elevation in position, WildCard is now without a Platoon Commander. First Sergeant Arnaut will temporarily be taking over the Platoon-Squad reports and sending them up the Chain of Command. Your Company Commander, 1st Lieutenant Riqimo, will be supervising him.

*Squad Activity*

Only two squads reported on the Commanders ComNet this week. This is not to say that all squads did not check in - only Wraith and Paladin reported on the CC. Other squads may have sent in their reports via email (either way, there's going to be a few things that need to be cleared up in order to make sure there's no misunderstandings).

- Wraith came in 16 squad story posts this week. Kudos to them for picking it up this week.

- Paladin has reported in with a huge 65 squad story posts. Excellent work, Paladin! At the moment, it appears that Paladin is the most active squad in the Army.


*Promotions/Awards*

- Platoon Sergeant Luckystar has been promoted to First Sergeant for her excellent activity, time served, and loyalty to the Stormtrooper Corps. She has also completed the entire Combat Engineer Specialty series and moved onto Scout.

- Private First Class Antos is awarded the Order of Pellaeon for recruiting at least 5 members.

Congratulations to the both of them!


*Command Staff Meeting*

A Command Staff meeting was held immediately following the usual VE Weekly meeting. I will be sending the meeting log to all of those who were unable to attend/needed to leave during the meeting. This was the overall schedule/outline for the meeting:

1. Roles and Positions (Cosmic/Rizzit)
    +Duties
2. Authorizations (Cosmic/Rizzit)
    +Squad Specialty
    +Equipment
3. Hierarchy
    +Who reports to who (Cosmic)
4. Structure
    +Command / Squad Duty Co-Existance (AlanRJ)
5. Story Writing
    +Quality Over Quantity (Cosmic)
    +Why a word count? (Cosmic/Rizzit)
    +Spec Story Grading (AlanRJ)
    +Spec Story Weekends (Arnaut)
    +Imperial Ball (Sniping101)
6. IRC (All Concerned)
    +Behavior
    +Moderation
    +Problems
7. Academy (Rizzit/Alan/Darr)
    +Squads Not Taking Troopers
    +Academy Staffing

Many of the Army Positions' descriptions remained the same. Really, the only modifications/clarifications made were directed to Platoon Commander and Squad Leader (and their adjutants).

Here's an overall description for the positions:

Prefect of the Army
Army Prefect is the highest position attainable. This officer has worked his or her way up from a trooper and has proven that he or she is capable of leading more than a squad or platoon, but the entire division.  While the Prefect does not direct at a squad level, he or she guides the higher enlisted men and the lower officers typically in charge of squads and platoons to shape the Army indirectly. The Prefect's monthly pay is 500000 IC.

Army Executive Officer
The Army Executive Officer is the second in command of the Army. His or her duties are numerous, including: updating the roster, keeping track of squad reports, and most times making the weekly division report. The Army Executive Officer's monthly pay is 250000 IC.

Commander of Training
The Commander of Training commands... training. This officer trains recruits, Squad Leader hopefuls, and officers. The person in this position gives the first impression on our recruits as he or she keeps in contact with them until they pass their training. The Commander of Training's monthly pay is 100000 IC.

Tactical Officer
The Tactical Officer is the strategist and the person who makes all of the fun stuff for people to play with. Web pages, images, campaign stories, and game mods; the Tactical Officer covers it all. The Tactical Officer's monthly pay is 100000 IC.

Commander of Development
The Commander of Development is the person that generates ideas and innovations for the improvement of the Army. If the status of the Army is stagnant or even decreasing, this person is the last one to be blame. The Commander of Development's monthly pay is 100000 IC.

Regiment Commander
The Regiment Commander gathers reports from its Battalions and keeps things running smoothly on its way to the High Command's desk. Until we gather enough troopers to warrant it, the Regiment Commander position will either stay open or as an honorary title. The Regiment Commander's monthly pay is 40000 IC.

Battalion Commander
The Battalion Commander gathers reports from its Companies and keeps things running smoothly on its way to the High Command's desk. Until we gather enough troopers to warrant it, the Battalion Commander position will either stay open or as an honorary title. The Battalion Commander's monthly pay is 30000 IC.

Company Commander
The Company Commander gathers reports from its Platoons and keeps things running smoothly on its way to the High Command's desk. Until we gather enough troopers to warrant it, the Company Commander position will either stay open or as an honorary title. The Company Commander's monthly pay is 25000 IC.

Platoon Commander
The Platoon Commander has direct control over four squads. This officer is expected to bring activity up and hold it there by competitions and starter stories for their squads. This individual is also responsible for grading Specialty stories. The Platoon Leader's monthly pay is 20000 IC.

Squad Leader
Undoubtedly the most important position in the Army aside from the troopers themselves, the Squad Leader has direct control over his or her eight troopers. The Squad Leader chooses what the squad's main focus will be fictionally (scout, spec ops, etc). Like everyone above that individual, the Squad Leader makes weekly reports to pass up the Chain of Command. The Squad Leader is also responsible for creating or ordering the creation of a squad website and banner. The Squad Leader's monthly pay is 12000 IC
Elite Squad Leader's monthly pay is 17500 IC.

Trooper
Above all else, the trooper is the most important part of the Army. While there is no prestigious title or position to go along with it, Troopers are the backbone of the Vast Empire Army. The Trooper's monthly pay is 4000 IC
Elite Trooper's monthly pay is 6000 IC.

Trainee
Trainees are the individuals who have not yet made it through training. This is the quickest stage in their career. During this time, they are under direct command of the Commander of Training. Trainees do not get a monthly paycheck.

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From this point on, Lieutenant General Rizzit will be taking over the Army reports. If no other High Council member (Supreme Moff Kadann, Grand General Talon, or High Admiral Japheth) arrives to moderate the meeting, I will lead the meeting.

Now, onto a couple notes concerning the PC/SL position and what their responsibilities would entail:

Squad Leader

The Squad Leader is, ideally/conceptually, the most active trooper in that squad. It is his or her responsibility to keep the squad in motion by coming up with various activities for the squad to participate in. This may include game nights, "fun" nights ("fun" may entail - trivia, etc.), and the usual squad stories. It is the Squad Leader's responsibility to submit the Squad Report. - the Squad Report must be sent to the Platoon Commander and Platoon Commander Adjutant..

The Squad Leader may choose to submit the Squad Report both on the Commanders ComNet and to the PC/PA or just send it to the PC/PA. In either case, the Squad Leader is required to post a note on their squad topic informing their squad that a report has been sent up the Chain of Command to avoid any confusion among the squad members concerning their representation for that week.


Squad Leaders may choose what Squad Specialty their squad has, but their choice of Equipment is decided with the Company Commander (The CC is in charge of assigning squad Equipment). Should the SL decide on a Specialty, their Platoon Commander must be informed, and the news must be sent up the Chain of Command.

Assistant Squad Leader

Originally, this position was not intended to have any type of authority (save for the case when the SL is on Leave). The ASL was traditionally a normal trooper, but shadowed the Squad Leader and observed his/her means and methods of leading a squad. It was basically a way to train Squad-Leader-potentials. That idea hasn't been used, however. Currently, the ASL is considered a position of power, and the person holding that position has some control over the squad. So, I'd like to clear up any misconceptions and clarify a few things:

I've discussed this with the Squad Leaders that have attended, and all of them liked the idea of having the ASL be a literal "Assistant" to them. Therefore, the ASL will continue to help the SL in some squad duties (and assume control of the squad should the SL be on Leave). The SL may put some of the workload/responsibility onto the ASL to help ease up the stress, but the majority of squad tasks should be under the responsibility of the Squad Leader. - the Assistant Squad Leader must send the Squad Report to the Platoon Commander and Platoon Commander Adjutant in the event that the Squad Leader is not present.


Platoon Commander

It is the PC's duty to come up with platoon competitions and other activities to keep their platoon active. Squad reports will be sent to both the PC and the PA. It is also the PC's duty to grade the trooper Specialty stories. The Platoon Commander may help the Platoon Adjutant learn how to grade Specialty stories to help them with that responsibility.

Upon receiving all of the Squad Reports, the Platoon Commander must send their Platoon Report to the Company Commander.


Platoon Commander Adjutant

The PA assists the PC in any way they can, and learns (from the PC) how to grade Specialty stories. Their goal is to learn as much about leading a platoon as possible.

In the event that the PC is on Leave, the Platoon Commander Adjutant must send a Platoon Report to the Company Commander.

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Who Do I Report To? - The Chain of Command

For most this is a no-brainer, but this is to help clear things up for those who have just joined (or for those who have been around and are still confused):

-Troopers report to the Squad Leader
-Squad Leaders/Assistant Squad Leaders report to the Platoon Commander/Platoon Commander Adjutant
-Platoon Commanders/Platoon Commander Adjutants report to the Company Commander.
-Company Commander report to the Executive Officer
-Commander of Training reports to the Executive Officer
-Executive Officer reports to the Prefect



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Story Writing - Quality-Over-Quantity

When I first joined the Vast Empire, there was no "word-count" requirements to follow. There was no pressure to conform to a standard. As a result, everyone posted lengthy posts (ranging from 2 large paragraphs to some x-amount of pages) because everyone had fun. Our posts were long because we enjoyed adding great detail into our stories, not due to a 500-word minimum requirement.

It was only in recent years that this idea of the "word-count" and "word-requirements" came into effect. I believe it all started out as a competition: people would get awarded ICs per word, so the longer your post, the more ICs you would have in the end. Eventually, this transitioned into posts needing "no less than 300 words". This idea slowly spread over all of the squads in the Army, and has - for the most part - become the norm and an integrated idea for the entire division.

I would like to steer away from that and revert back to the traditional way of posting - they were a lot funner in my personal experience, and I'm sure that everyone else will find a similar result. However, I know that forcing a huge change like this will not go over well, and it may even fail. Senior Sergeant Angel came up with the great idea of converting a squad to quality-over-quantity norms (with Jester being the pilot squad). There are some other details that I will need to discuss with him about, but I think the overall idea is very sound. I also like the idea of taking it slow and trying to spread this idea around one squad at a time.

Therefore, over time, the entire Army will eventually convert back to the older ways. Posts are still expected to contain a decent amount of information and detail, but the lack of a large word requirement should make things less stressful, less of an obligation, and more of a fun activity.

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Specialty Story Weekends

This idea was proposed by First Sergeant Arnaut. The main idea is that every weekend will be a story-writing weekend for a particular Specialty. For example, one weekend may be Combat Engineer weekend, in which all of the Combat Engineers of the Army would get together on a mission and accomplish certain objectives/puzzles.

More details will be sorted out later, but that's the main idea.

I like the idea (and apparently so did the majority at the meeting), and I'd love to see a formal, detailed proposal on the AHC's desk soon.

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IRC - Behavior, Moderation, Problems

Back in the day, there was no KadBot. We slacked off a bit in enforcing the CoC, and eventually fowl-language started appearing on the main channel. To help repair this, a combination of KadBot and stricter moderation was established. The stricter moderation and CoC enforcement, again, slacked off, and even KadBot's warnings were being ignored.

Several troopers (at Trooper level) and others are tired of seeing this on the main channel, so I will be taking these concerns up with the High Council and see what they have to say. As a moderator on the main, I will begin enforcing the CoC. As the Prefect of the Army, I will not have my Command Staff and/or troopers (especially officers) disobeying the CoC in the main channel. If it's been a big enough problem, where over several months, troopers are coming up to me and other people and requesting that things be done about it, then it's a serious enough problem that should be taken care of immediately.

If you have any problems with this, feel free to take it up with me.

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Stormtrooper Corps Academy

There's been some arguments and problems over "squads deny/not accepting new recruits" into their squad for whatever reason:

A squad cannot be picky and say "I don't want Trooper X". Squads, in general, cannot choose who they want and don't want in their squads. That privilege is reserved only for the Elite Squad of the Stormtrooper Corps. At the moment, no squad has that title. If a squad is not satisfied with a particular new trooper's performance, that squad's SL may take it up with the Commander of Training. Hopefully, however, this will no longer be a problem as I'm sure 2nd Lieutenant Darr-Rann will perform vigorous training exercises to ensure that all troopers coming out of the Academy will be fully prepared to take on Active Duty squad responsibilities.

In terms of requesting certain troopers, those requests must go through the Commander of Training.

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*** Army Proposal (Keyword: Proposal) ***

As most of you know, Army activity has very much been on a roller coaster ride for some years now. Activity rises and it falls - but recently we've seemingly been on a downhill ride. It's true that some squads (especially Paladin) have really picked up their game and have produced extremely good results (Paladin has made 65 story posts this last week alone). However, the Army as a whole is not doing well and is slowly falling into a greater slump: the influx of recruits may be decent, but the amount of people actually interested in continuing their VE experience and graduating from the Academy is very low. At the moment, the squads are attempting to sustain themselves with their current member-counts. The problem is that even one AWOL check could significantly reduce the squad's activity. For example, a squad of 6 members could easily be down to only four members after an AWOL check with no real assurance their their numbers will be replenished.

The following proposal has been presented to me by both Lieutenant General Rizzit and 2nd Lieutenant Aeos:

Merge WildCard Platoon and Storm Platoon together (transfer Storm Platoon's members over to WildCard). Specifically, this is what would happen:

Paladin's members would be transferred to Iron Horse.
BlackJack's members would be placed into a resurrected Dark Dragoons.
Jester's members would fill in the gaps of the other squads.

At the moment, there are twelve (12) trooper position openings in the Army. Even if all of Jester's members were distributed throughout the various squads, there would still be seven (7) positions left open (almost another squad).

There are definitely Pros and Cons to this proposal:

Pros
- We would have one full platoon (max capacity) rather than two half-empty platoons.
- Overall activity would increase for the platoon - more platoon-sized competitions and campaigns could be operated.
- We would have a single Platoon Commander and Platoon Adjutant leading one platoon of four squads rather than two Platoon Commanders and two Platoon Adjutants leading two platoons with about 1.5-2 active squads in each.

Cons
- People are attached to their squads - they don't want to leave their squad and be placed in another.
- There would be some positions lost in the process:
      - 2nd Lieutenant Kami may step down (if she no longer wishes to be Platoon Commander)
      - Senior Sergeant Angel would lose his position of Squad Leader
      - First Sergeant Arnaut may lose his position as Platoon Adjutant

If Kami chooses to remain as Platoon Commander, she would be WildCard's new PC. As PC, she has the option of choosing her own Platoon Adjutant. She may either stay with Arnaut or opt for Angel.

Personally (this is my own opinion), I think that this merge would be a good idea. We're spread thin at the moment, and I think we'd prove to be a more powerful force (activity, participation, etc.) if we regrouped. I know how troopers would feel about losing their squads. I have very sentimental feelings for RAIDERS, and was very much crushed when I had to leave them. However, this decision would be a very big move for the Army, and the question you need to ask yourself is: "Do I want to stay where I am for "me", or do I make a sacrifice for the overall good of the Army?" As I said, this is my own personal opinion.

Nothing is set in stone, so don't freak out. If there were going to be changes, they wouldn't be immediate. HSC 2008 starts on Monday (11/17), and I'm definitely not making any changes this significant in the middle of a campaign. Should this proposal go through, the changes would be made in two months or so at best.

Essentially, that's the proposal.

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That's the end of this Prefect's Report. Congratulations to those who have been elevated in position, rank, and rewarded with medals. You've earned it.

I will be sending the log to those who were unable to attend or missed a portion of the meeting.


All hail the Vast Empire!

Lancer was and always will be a part of storm. Actually...it was renamed to Eclipse if memory serves right.

I was unable to attend the company meeting, so I missed the opportunity to talk to y'all on IRC about the possibility of the merge Cosmic mentions above.

This isn't as drastic as it seems. Yes. Some people will be displaced. Yes, some squads will be shut down. And yes, we will lose a platoon. If you look it it from my perspective, I stand to lose my PC position, my platoon, and my old squad. The truth of the matter is that none of that matters if the overall activity of the Army as a whole improves.

Our format needs to shift to fit changing activity levels. In the past squads have been closed to counter low recruitment, and have been reopened at a later stage when they are capable of supporting themselves. Don't assume these changes (if they go through) will be permanent.

Ultimately, I think we'd all just like to see some life back in the army. Some good writing, and good conversation.

I don't want to hijack the thread, I just wanted to share my thoughts. No matter what happens, I'm sure HSC will be a blast. it always is

I'm kind of like Lucky, I don't really want the merge to happen because we kind of have relationships established in our squads and we know how to play off one another, but if we merge we will have to start that all over again trying to figure out each other's personality and style of posting.

Lancer squad was a horrible, disgusting entity and should be sunk to the bottom of the ocean, where sub-freezing temperatures and intese pressure will crush and entomb it. (Thanks Jon Voight)

Anyway, merging (some) squads would in fact be a good idea. Just because you're attached to your present squad doesn't mean you can't become attached to your new squad. Maybe a change of pace might help you in some way.

Personally, I have my own proposal in to the HC regarding Jester, so don't be so quick to shut us down. I've been sitting back a bit and waiting to see what the fallout was from Fury's retirement, but now I think is the perfect time to implement a veteran squad.

I'm remain neutral on this subject.
I'd like to point out however there is a difference between veteran and  elite.

Merrick re-opening Jester turned out alright, it pulled some retired members from the army back into the army. I was one of them. And I dont know, right now, I dont think we should worry ourselves about the whole platoon thing, I'd like things to be fun and carefree during the HSC As Cosmic said, this is not taking effect immediately if it DOES take effect, and alot can change in a few months time.

Just leave the judgment out of it for a bit. I'm not talking about Jester being an elite squad in the least. Basically just a squad where we write at a bit higher level (i.e. our stories are a bit more evolved from shoot'em ups)

Not elite. No selective membership, just people who want to write deeper and more difficult stories.

EDIT: FYI. I came back to settle into a normal squad. And perhaps "veteran" is the wrong word to use. Just in my experiences the more seasoned writers enjoy more involved story-telling.

I'm all for it. Especially the Quality-Over-Quantity part due to the recent Navy comp, which Hunter-Morrell (who is my other character as many of you know) participated, which in my own opinion was a little bit flawed. So I say go for it. I'd love to have deeper stories that have more than just shooting in them... maybe some demolition would be good.

I think it would be okay as long as the squads don't have to split up. Maybe make the squad sizes slightly larger.

I really like the idea of a quality over quantity squad

Which I think is the point of the merge. I agree to the Quality-over-Quantity part, I'm just hoping the merge won't last for too long as some of us aren't comfortable with the decision and the fact that our opinions and feelings don't seem to matter much either way.

I dont really like the idea, as well. It does have some good points, however. Im happy with the way things are.

Uh... Zesh? If they go through with the merge, only one squad is going to be gotten rid of and that is Jester.

DANGET! I mean't to post as Jori. Sorry.

oh yeah........right
totally missinturpretted that. my bad guys, disregard all my ideas :P

As long as we can get our numbers up again, yes it will be temporary.
Of course, Cosmic, Rizzit this is your turf to speak, not mine

:P