Today's Prefect's Report will be focusing on the HSC and some recent events that have risen in the past 24-48 hours.


*Holiday Squad Competition 2008*

First off, everyone has done a superb job with participating in this year's HSC! The first thing to be discussed will be how the games and posts will be "scored/graded". The second thing that will be addressed is how games are "scored/graded", and in what category some games will fall under. And finally, the third thing that will be explained is how the graphics submissions will be graded.


Posts

Posts are graded on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 = poor, 5 = excellent). This scale is based on the quality of a post. A high-quality post will be given a higher score than a lower-quality post. A high-quality post consists of: progressing the storyline, elaborating on the details (your environment, what your character is thinking, elaborating on what the enemy is doing, etc.), correct grammar (in other words: is the post easy to read and follow?), how well the dialogue format is set up, etc.

And according to Rizzit:

A really well written detailed post that advances the storyline (like most of angel's) will go for 5 points

An average post would go for 3 points. It's decently written and moves the storyline...just isnt anything spectacular but it isnt bad either.

A post that moves the story along but isnt really good for whatever reason is 2 points.

A REALLY crappy post that if I deleted it would not make a difference is worth one point.


Games

Non-SW games will fall under the Miscellaneous category (5% of HSC total). "Non-SW games that a lot of time goes into (Pangya, Mario Kart, Medal of Honor, etc) will count as double points in the Misc Category. SOME form of confirmation is needed though."

The games mentioned for HSC will be graded as such: Winner receives 2 points and the loser receives 1 point. 1 point goes to each person if there is a draw/tie.

SW games (JO, etc.) will count for double points: Winner receives 4 points, loser receives 2 points. 2 points goes to each person if there's a tie.

IMPORTANT!: To avoid any problems, the use of emulators is prohibited. There's a lot of legal issues that we can avoid just by not allowing the use of such devices.


Graphics

Graphics are based on a 3-point scale (1 = poor, 2 = good, 3 = excellent).

To get full points, your graphics must be original and your own work. You may do what I do the majority of the time and take different images and blend them together, but be sure that it looks nothing like the original.

Graphics that are worth 1 point are going to be images that someone has just slapped some text on - or it is clearly visible that no alteration to the original image has be done.



*Stormtrooper Corps*


Position Updates

- First Sergeant Arnaut has been elevated to WildCard's Platoon Commander position.

- Senior Sergeant Angel has been elevated to Storm's Platoon Commander position. (He retains his position as Jester's Squad Leader)

Congratulations to the both of them.

*NOTE: Senior Sergeant Angel was the Army High Command's decision/choice. We would not have chosen him if we didn't believe him to be ready for all the duties and responsibilities that the position of Platoon Commander entails.

To ensure fairness and prevent bias decisions, the AHC will decide which role Angel will take during a competition (PC or SL). If he is taking on the role of the PC, he will not be involved with Jester for that competition. If he takes on the role of Squad Leader, he will not be grading any squads' work.

I'm confident that Senior Sergeant Angel will be a fair and successful Platoon Commander.


Praise In Public, Punish In Private

An issue came up within the last 24-48 hours on IRC's main channel that could have been avoided. As a reminder to all members: if you have doubts about someone and want to address them, then you need to contact them private and not speak any of it in the main channel for all to see. Speaking about a topic in the main channel that should be spoken about in a private channel only brings in confusion, frustration, and chaos in the main channel.

Before any consequences are given out (this goes to all members in a leadership position), you must first evaluate the situation and look at both sides of the story before casting judgment and making a decision. It is your duty, as individuals in a leadership position (officers and enlisted alike) that you take both sides of the story into consideration and thoroughly analyze the content of the issue before making a decision that would benefit/hinder one or both parties.

As a reminder to everyone with any admin privileges in the main channel (%, @, etc.), you are charged with keeping order in the main channel and to enforce the CoC. Using your admin powers for anything other than that only results in frustration from other members (as seen in this particular situation).

So, in case anyone has forgotten, here is the Code of Conduct: http://www.vastempire.com/main/ref/coc/

Rule 1 - Do not abuse your channel operator status, voice, or X-bot access: Abusing ops and X-bot access consists of kicking, banning or threatening kick/ban without reason or proper cause. Changing the topic and channel modes unnecessarily also is considered abuse. Any member who violates this rule will be punished. The punishment will range between a Class I and Class III Offense pending on the severity of the member's actions.

We're here to have fun, folks, so let's try to make it enjoyable as possible for ourselves and everyone else. On that note, I've noticed that there's been an increase in the use of expletives/swearing in the main IRC. I will start warning you about this.

Rule 3 - Do not be obscene: Swearing of all kinds is forbidden in the Vast Empire channel. Whether it be swearing in another language (English being the default language for all Vast Empire channels), concealed, implied or suggested swearing. Being obscene also refers to discussing sexual, pornographic, grotesque or generally undesirable subjects in detail. Any member who violates this rule will be punished. The punishment will range between a Class I and Class III Offense pending on the severity of the member's actions.



That concludes today's Prefect's Report.


All hail the Vast Empire!