Hello, all!

I was named Chief of Naval Warfare a couple months back, and despite having to take a month-long leave of absence from the VE almost immediately thereafter, I take the responsibilities very seriously, and have been putting in a lot of time working on various reforms to the way the Navy operates, IC and OOC.  The NHC has debated these topics extensively, and I've spent the last weeks and months talking with most of you guys, making sure whatever changes were adopted are responsive to everyone's needs, present and future.  Take a look, and if you have any questions, feel free to PM me or ping me on irc. 

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First, Fleet Command (yay, alliteration!):

Register of ships for the First Vast Imperial Fleet and the Second Vast Imperial Fleet, organized by task force:


As you can see, the core ships of the First and Second Fleets have been defined.  TF1-TF15 are the "standard" vessels in each task force, while TFX is the code that describes the "special" ships that can be assigned to each task force, for specific stories.  TF0 is a special code for a very special ship: the VEN's flagship, the Atrus, which is powerful enough to count as a task force unto itself.  The coloring is just to give some visual indication of the size of the various models of warship, relative to each other.

The rationale here is simple.  By defining the numbers, types, and names of the ships in these task forces and fleets, we all understand the scale of naval engagements and wars in this era and timeline and faction a little better.  And the stakes go way up: we have finite resources, and as we develop these ships over time, losing any of these vessels should hurt.

The one final thing I'll say is that the SCAPs who are less consistently active have been grouped in First Fleet.  This is not a punishment!  The move is designed to allow folks with similar activity levels to write together, without having to accommodate the wildly different posting schedules of other members.  Everyone is still welcome, and any SCAP who wants to return to higher levels of activity will be transfered over with his/her ship, as soon as may be possible. 

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Second, Starfighter Command (more alliteration!):

I've consulted with all of the active pilots we have, and together we've come up with some changes to the way fighters are approached in the VEN, organizationally and in-story.  These changes are designed to provide the present members with the variety of roleplaying experiences that they want, while providing for the continuation of the rich history and tradition of the starfighter corps, while also remaining flexible enough to accommodate new members and new needs.

On my new ship, the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Adjudicator, there are six starfighter squadrons, which collectively will be known as the 101st Vast Imperial Starfighter Wing, nicknamed "Blade Wing."  The Wing Commander of this new wing will be Ensign DeepSix.

DeepSix will also be the Squadron Commander of the 1/101st Squadron, the 38th Vast Imperial Starfighter Squadron, nicknamed "Vornskr."  They will fly TIE/ad Avengers, at first.  Their in-battle callsigns will be Gold One through Gold Twelve.  For now, the squadron will be filled out by NPCs, until enough "elite" PC pilots (who have earned the right to fly advanced craft through skills/certs and proven themselves to be consistent team-players) earn the right to join.

The 2/101st, or 42nd Vast Imperial Bombardment Squadron, is nicknamed "Krakana."  They will be an all-NPC outfit, flying TIE/sa Bombers, at first.  Called Steel One through Steel Twelve.

The 3/101st, or 46th Vast Imperial Starfighter Squadron, is nicknamed "Jexxel,"  They're all NPCs, in TIE/In Interceptors.  Silver One through Silver Twelve.

The 4/101st, or 50th Vast Imperial Starfighter Squadron, is nicknamed "Chlovi Cat Squadron."  Dunny will be SCO (Cobalt One), and Maroy SXO, and DarianRogue will fly in this outfit too.  At first, you guys will fly TIE/In Interceptors, but advanced versions of those craft, or Avengers and Defenders, will be available if you keep activity up and OOC drama down.    Most new recruits will be assigned to Chlovi after the Academy, until further notice.

The 5/101st, or 54th Vast Imperial Bombardment Squadron, is nicknamed "Gundark."  For now, it is an all-NPC outfit, though for bookkeeping purposes, Hades will be listed as the SCO.  IC, he's shot down and in need of rescuing, and OOC, he's dealing with computer problems.  A position will be waiting for him, when he gets back.    They're Bronze One through Bronze Twelve, and fly TIE/sa Bombers.

The 6/101st, or 58th Vast Imperial Starfighter Squadron, is nicknamed "Strill."  The SCO is Joamer, and Brightstar, Dawn, and Xanin will also be assigned here.  They'll go by Iron One through Iron twelve in missions, and they'll start in TIE/In Interceptors.

A chart, for ease of reference:


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Third, the Roster:

A new version of the roster will debut ASAP.  It will be streamlined and standardized.  Stand by for those changes.

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Fourth, reports:

Reporting has fallen by the wayside, lately.  There are a number of reasons, but it's not important: I'd like us to get back in the habit.    It takes all of two minutes to log into the ComNet and write a couple sentences in a PM to your immediate superiors, once a week.  It's not too much to ask, and it helps immensely to keep us all on the same page.  With the new roster and set-up, let's update our ID lines, and start talking to each other again! 

Do you upgrade your ship by owning the ship itself and then by buying the upgrade?

Thanks, Serpent!  You should be pleased with you placement, once the roster is updated, too! 

Xanin, DeepSix is right: I meant that by having a set number of specific ships, they will develop histories and "personalities" over time.  "Unlucky" frigates and "feisty" corvettes, and things like that.  Over many stories, we'll "get to know" these ships, and then, if/when some of them are lost, it will be more painful than just, "some random NPC cap ship bought it."  If you were referring to my own command, I don't make that decision myself.  As with every other member of the Navy, I'm assigned a ship based on my position, rank, experience, and so on.  In this case, the NCC and CNO agreed that the CNW should have access to a full-on ISD, and I opted not to implement that change until the second act of the Counterpunch Arc, so it would all make a little more sense, in-story. 

VERY accurate, and very thorough.  Thanks for explaining. 

I am pleased to say that all members of the 50th Squadron have reported on-time. I am sending my Squadron Reports to Deep and Trykon now.

Ladies and gentlebeings, our beloved Vice Admiral StOrMz has been hard at work, updating the roster.  It isn't quite finished yet - VENA and VENI will have their own sections, when he's done - but it's a Herculean task, and his progress so far should let you at least see where you are in terms of the Warfare Department (Fleet Command and the Strarfighter Corps).  Feast your eyes, and thank our Fearless Leader! 

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I'll also take this opportunity to announce a long-awaited development: the return of regularly-awarded MVP-style shinies! 

They're listed below:

Imperial Guardian - every month, the NHC will bestow the title of "Imperial Guardian" upon the single VEN member who has, in their estimation, best contributed to the vitality and success of the VEN, that month.  The member will hold that title for one month, and then a new champion of the Division will be chosen, but once a member has achieved this great honor, he/she may list [IG] in his/her ID line, forevermore.

Captain's Own - every month, the CNW (in consultation with the WC) will evaluate the squadrons in the starfighter corps with player-characters in them, and if any squadron has gone above and beyond the call of duty (exceedingly high activity, admirably good conduct, extraordinarily well-written/well-coordinated posts), then the squadron that has best contributed to the vitality and success of the VEN that month will be named "The Captain's Own."  The unit will be authorized to use special graphics announcing their status on their wiki page and signatures, and will have considerable bragging rights.  Then begins the competition to defend the prestigious title!

Admiral's Own - every month, the NCC (in consultation with the CNW) will evaluate the crew sections in Fleet Command that have player-characters in them, and if any such section (right now, these are the Medical team and the Command team on the Adjudicator, and all of the independent SCAPs too, who are considered to be on the Command teams of their ships) has gone above and beyond the call of duty (exceedingly high activity, admirably good conduct, extraordinarily well-written/well-coordinated posts), then the crew section that has best contributed to the vitality and success of the VEN that month will be named "The Admiral's Own."  The unit will be authorized to use special graphics announcing their status on their wiki page and signature(s), and will have the pride of being chosen by the Naval Commander in Chief as the best of the best.  They'll then have to keep up the great work, if they hope to remain the best the following month!


Now, these are primarily OOC awards, folks.  That means that Admiral's Own is not "better" than Captain's Own... they are basically the same award, with one for the starfighter corps and the other for fleet command.  It also means that we're taking into consideration not only what you write IC, but how you behave OOC, when we choose who gets the awards in any given month.  And, note the language above: if no squadron does more/better than the bare minimum/average, then nobody will get Captain's Own that month, and the same goes for Admiral's Own in lackluster months for fleet command people.

Last point: some months, when the Navy rolls out new official stories, the Captain's Own and Admiral's Own titles may actually be used, in-story.  In other words, you should all try to finish each official story strong, so that when the next Navy tale starts, your unit bears the special shiny IC, not somebody else's!


I know folks have missed these kinds of awards of late.  With the new roster, the NHC thinks it's time we brought 'em back.    Happy competition, folks!

December will be the first month of evaluation, and right around New Year's the first winner(s) will be announced! 

Seen it almost as soon as it appeared. It's looking much cleaner and more efficient.

Great job boss!

The newest improvement to the Navy has arrived, gentlebeings!

I've spent the past few days revamping the Naval Ranks system and wiki page.  After consulting heavily with the rest of the NHC, this is the result: http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/Naval_Ranks.

Compare that to the old page/system - http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/Old_Naval_Ranks - and you can see this is a vast improvement.

Ranks have been added or taken away, here or there, but mostly, the Naval Ranks page is simply more clear, now.  And I re-uploaded a complete set of rank insignia, that uses a standardized naming convention.  So, please: update all the instances of rank insignia images on your personal wiki pages, so that they use the new, standardized system.

Let's start Chapter 9 looking as professional as possible, folks.  A huge club-wide story is always a draw for new recruits, but having a clean, informative wiki is a great way to encourage any visitors to stay, and join up.

Ah I get it.  So an extra officer rank was added below me, meaning my rank of Commander was too high.  So I'm now a Lieutenant Commander.  No probs, I'm good with that.  Wiki page and ID line updated!

Additional: Trick I've gone ahead and updated the Second Fleet's wiki page with your and my new ranks / rank insignia.

Yes, Serpent, exactly!  And my rank doesn't appear to have changed, because, even though my rank was adjusted down x1 (because of the new Officer Candidate provisional rank), it was also adjusted up x1 (since I held the rank of Vice Captain for a time, which has been eliminated from the hierarchy entirely).  The net result, in my case, was the same nominal rank, of Vice Commodore.

And Hades, you can absolutely think of it as a level up, a couple promotions from now.  For you will never have to deal with the thoroughly-awkward Vice Captain conundrum. 

Thanks for taking the Fleet page, Serpent.  My next big wiki priority is a proper overhaul of the Adjudicator's page.  So that'll involve NPCs and PCs ranks, getting them all up to date. 

I'm honored to take on the CNO position, and I appreciate the x1 promotion (to full Commodore, I think is what you meant?) as well.  Thank you StOrMz, for the vote of confidence!  And thanks to everyone in the Division, really: you guys are keeping the Navy going strong, despite low numbers, and I can't tell you all how much fun I'm having, writing/role-playing with you all.

I'd just like to say, too, that I'm really sorry to see Drac moved to the retired list.  I know that real life has kept him away from the VE for a while now, but he's one of the greatest VEers I've ever had the privilege of serving with, and he's certainly going to be missed.  I join StOrMz in hoping Drac will one day make it back to active duty with the Navy.

Okay, folks.  My draft for the intro post of the Navy's Chapter 9 story is coming along nicely, and it looks like the NHC and roster will be reorganized in time for tomorrow, as well.  We're really building up momentum, now, and the Chapter hasn't even officially begun, yet!    Get excited!

Congrats Tryk. You are one step closer to being Lord and High Master of the Navy. Strill stands by you, long as you give us the proper toys.

Update: I meant Commodore...not sure why i put Captain.

Congrats, Tryk! Looking forward to all the fun stuff you're cooking up for us!

Congrats, Trick! You deserve it. Gonna miss Drac, though.