Friday 29 January 2010

Eddie Cramer becomes CO of USS Khitomer

Appointment 89:

As announced previously we have an opening in Fleet Two for CO of the USS Khitomer.

On the recommendation of the second fleet flag officer, I hereby assign Edgar Cramer as CO of the Khitomer. Edgar holds club rank of Commodore and as such does not require a promotion.

Kat

C in C

William Smith promoted to Military Command in SGU

Hi guys,

Since Jess has left us and I've been handed the reins of Operations Leader, I asked around for a likely candidate as the fourth member of Military Command and one name was mentioned and a name came up.

I've asked William Smith to be our new member of the Military Command. Will comes highly recommended and is greatly appreciated by his peers for his dedication as the current Director of Member Support as well as a player.

So please extend a warm welcome to our newest member of Military Command, William Smith.

Anna

Tuesday 26 January 2010

Samantha Nelson becomes new RPG Development Director

It is with great pleasure and eagerness that I announce that Samantha Nelson has accepted the position of RPG Development Director. Samantha has brought a great deal of talent, detail, and enthusiasm to every single task placed before her in all endeavors and will be a great asset to this department. I look forward to working with her once again.

 

My sincerest congratulations to you Samantha!

 

Teddie Dollins, VP of Development

 

Sunday 24 January 2010

Alex Verdusco honoured by Simming League

One of AJJE's Founders and past president Alex Verdusco has been awarded the 2009 Simming League Prize by The Simming League.
He was recognized 'for his distinguished work, founding AJJE Games in 2005, serving as its president until 2009, and establishing AJJE Games as a leading member of the simming and online role-playing community.'
Congratulations, Alex! This is well-deserved recognition.

AJJE 2009 Awards: Winners

* Department of the Year - Support Services (Kevin Diamond)
* LOTW Sims of the Year - Akers Bluff (Slow), Prinz Eugen (Regular)
** Third victory in a row for the latter.
* LOTW Player of the Year - Mike Palmer
** CO of Prinz Eugen
* SGU Sims of the Year - SGU-1 (Slow), SGA-2 (Regular)
* SGU Player of the Year - Michael Ives
* SFHQ Sims of the Year - Atlantis NX-05 (Slow), USS Independence (Regular)
* SFHQ Player of the Year - Silent Hunter
* RTE Sims of the Year - Order 66 (Slow), The Great Hall (Regular)
* RTE Player of the Year - Euan Reid
* Club of the Year - Leaf on the Wind

Saturday 23 January 2010

Deborah Leighton Plom becomes LOTW's first GM of the Year

And now, shortly in advance of the AJJE Site-level Awards, it is my very great privilege to present LOTW's first GM of the Year Award.

This has actually been one of the most deeply discussed awards we've handed out at club level, and for good reason. Our previous club-level awards have all been recognising achievements over a relatively short period of time, albeit wide-ranging and great achievements each time. But with the GM of the Year Award, not only was the scope that much wider - twelve times as wide, of course - in terms of time, but also that much more tightly defined in terms of criteria and in weighty significance to the club...

What I'm saying is firstly that this club couldn't exist without its members. Every member of LOTW is hugely valued, and I hope you all feel that way. But our players would have nothing to do if it weren't for the cohort of GMs that give of their time and energy to provide us with sims in which to play, environments to explore, and plots through which to develop our characters. The role of the GM is hard to define, and at the risk of being glib I will sum it up by saying there is no one way to be a GM. But even so, the Committee members bought considerable experience of both GMing and being GMd to the discussions, and we had well-developed perceptions of what makes good and excellent GMs.

In LOTW, we are currently blessed with a high quality cadre of GMs, and it is important for the Awards Committee to stress that every one of you who is reading this and is a GM: you are appreciated. Your efforts are appreciated. Your contribution is appreciated.

As one Committee Member put it, and I hope he won't mind my quoting him, "GMing isn't a thankless task, fortunately - we have a lot of considerate players who are extremely mindful, loyal and supportive of their refs and that's one of the many reasons why being involved in this game is so great. Neverthless, I do think it's important to show how high the bar is and how much all GMs are appreciated, even if they're not *the* GM of the Year."

So with that firmly in mind, we move on to focus on the award itself...

It was early this month that the Committee came to the decision to bestow a GM of the Year Award, which would be worth more than the 12 Player of the Month awards and would in fact be worth the same as the site-level Player of the Year award, in order to appropriately recognise the magnitude of this particular honour.

Nominations were immediately forthcoming, with three very worthy individuals soon making it to shortlist. To call them by name:

Deborah Leighton Plom, for GMing Akers Bluff and for her oversight role facilitating the GMing of the club in general under the purview of GM Support Director,

James Mcguire, for GMing the Prinz Eugen - a consistent flag-ship RPE not only by LOTW's high standards, but actually regularly at the top of AJJE's entire network of sims,

and

Kevin Diamond, for exceptional GMing of the Cocidius and also of St Michael, and all that that entails.

It also seems right to me to say that these three outstanding individuals made it to shortlist not because of anything the other GMs are doing or have done wrong, but because of a clear and powerful sense among the Committee that Deborah, James, and Kevin each embody much of what we felt was especially praiseworthy in the field of GMing. Other GMs certainly display outstanding strengths and have had noteworthy moments over the course of the year, but it was these three who rose to the fore over the course of our careful and thorough deliberations.

After being nominated, Kevin opted to remove himself from the discussions, temporarily delegating his voting rights on the Committee to a proxy, Robert Longtin. Robert proved a great asset to the Committee through the considerable diligence with which he fulfilled his responsibility.

Our discussions included coverage of such topics as 'what makes a good GM?', 'what is GMing, anyway?', and hard though it is to do justice to such theoretical and subjective questions, we moved forwards communicably and in a happy spirit of unity, with the club in mind.

Our candidates were praised with such adjectives as 'epic', 'excellent', 'encouraging', 'dedicated', 'proactive', 'responsive', 'helpful', and 'superb', with attention given to Sim Strength Rankings, player-focus, and so much more. One candidate was even described as being "as constant as the Northern Star" (and again, I hope this Committee member won't mind me quoting him either).

It was consistently understood that GMs are the glue which hold a sim together and that perhaps what makes for a great GM is their relationship with the players. For all of this we give them thanks and praise.

To conclude... the decision was a close run thing. Kevin came in a respectable third, which is no small thing in light of the competition just to get shortlisted. So please everyone join me in congratulating Kevin!

Now, one final quote, this time to describe the sim GMd by our runner-up:

"For the Prinz Eugen: the best and perhaps only way to describe it is such, if you've ever watched a show/movie with only the best actors all together (like Firefly/Serenity, hehe) where the characters they portray all bear that 'lovable' quality that makes you feel like deep down you can relate to that character, and the story, producer, and director are among the best in film history, if you could combine ALL of those things, it would be the Prinz Eugen. I'm rarely one to take such an extreme stance, but after reading 2 weeks worth (what felt like 2 months worth of reading in comparison to several other ships/planets), it had that 'perfect movie' quality where everything just rings true."

I couldn't have hoped to word it better myself. James, congratulations on this outstanding achievement. The Prinz is such an excellent sim.

And finally, to announce Leaf on the Wind's first ever GM of the Year...

*drum roll*

She's responsive, player-driven and supportive as a GM on Akers. She serves as GM Support Director, co-ordinating the club's GMing. Known by many players and, I think, all GMs through her many projects, it is my distinct and personal pleasure to present to you our GM of the Year 2009!

Deborah Leighton Plom!

Congratulations to you, Deborah!

Ash

Thursday 21 January 2010

Euan Reid becomes LOTW MSD

Resolution #33

In September last year, Topher Miller kindly stepped up as Acting Member Support Director when the then MSD Ed Reeve sadly vacated the position due to RL.

Naturally Topher excelled at the job, and I was loath to acknowledge the temporary basis on which he'd agreed to take the commission! However, the time has now arrived for a permanent Director to assume the MSD duties, and Topher and I readily agreed upon Assistant Member Support Director Euan Reid.

As such, it is my pleasure to announce Euan Reid as our new MSD.

Please join me in welcoming him to this position!

Ashley Leighton Plom, Parliament Leader, 19th January 2010

Sunday 17 January 2010

First Post: Harry Potter (RTE)

Note that there was a Harry Potter anchor club, but it reverted to a single sim due to lack of activity

Message Posted on 2007-03-03 22:43:19
Message Posted by 1st Year Crawford



Crawford thought the Hogwarts Express was amazing, more so than his friend Anna's description, but it was nothing compared to the Great Hall with it's vaulted vanishing ceiling, huge windows overlooking the grounds, and the five enormous dining tables overflowing with the year's inaugural feast.

As instructed by the professor that led the first years into the castle, Crawford, known as 'Lenny' to his friends, got in line in the middle of the Hall with the other first years, surrounded by the rest of the student body arranged in the four Houses of Hogwarts. "My Mum was in Hufflepuff, so I hope I'm there too." said a lithe girl with black hair in front of him. Lenny was the first child in his family for more than three hundred years to display any wizarding talent, and that ancestor didn't go to Hogwarts, so he didn't have any idea which of the four Houses he mind find himself sorted into.

"Slytherin!" called the Sorting Hat from the head of a boy with auburn hair and freckles who stood facing the rest of the assemblage. One of the tables cheered, while another jeered conspicuously.

"Hufflepuff!" called the Hat from the head of the skinny girl who had been in line in front of him. She got her wish. Now it was his turn. Lenny was surprised to hear the hat start to mumble to itself after being placed on his head by the professor, "Hmm, well... Not often do we find an unknown spirit... many qualities... My first thought is Gryffindor, the passion is strong, but the ambition is undeniable, a good match for Slytherin... there, there it is. The thirst for knowledge, the knowledge by which dreams are made real, and great mysteries are brought into the light."

"Ravenclaw!"

Saturday 16 January 2010

Michael Ives becomes new SL of Starship Troopers

Appointment #54

With the SL of the Starship Troopers RPE having gone AWOL and not responding to email the Council of Elders has decided to remove Ryan Briggs as Sim Leader of the RPE.

With a unanimous decision the Council of Elders are pleased to announce that Ryan's replacement is Michael Ives.

Michael is hereby promoted to Sim Leader of Starship Troopers and promoted to the rank of Apprentice.

Congratulations Michael!

Eddie
Head Elder

Thursday 14 January 2010

Tain Bo Cualinge renamed to Shadow

The Leaders of the Wave announce the approval of Topher's request to change the name of the Tain Bo Cuailnge to the Shadow. I have changed the name on the Area Homepage, and Topher has changed it on the sim MOTD page. We have requested Tech Services to change the name elsewhere within LOTW and beyond, as we do not have access to all locations where the name is listed.

This matter was brought to the Leaders' attention due to the potential historical significance of the name of the ship. It was one of the four original ships in LOTW, and one of two ships which have operated continuously since the beginning. I had the privilege of being her XO in early 2007 prior to being given my own command. The other original ship is the Rim Worlds ship, Raug'Moss.

However, in a split decision the Leaders felt that the CO's rights over control and operation of his/her own sim far outweighed the need to preserve the name of a ship which had a long history of poor performance. In the past, I have, on occasion, made requests of COs only to be told in no uncertain terms to "BUZZ OFF", as this was their sim and they'd run it their own way. I bowed to their will and honored the right of an active CO to exercise control over their own sims.

Thus the Leaders have voted to preserve and protect the rights and perogatives of LOTW's COs to have control over their sim environments.


Mike Palmer
Chief Area Leader

Friday 8 January 2010

Robert Longtin becomes LOTW Election Coordinator.

Resolution #32

I am delighted to promote an exceptional Assistant Election Coordinator to the position of Election Coordinator. Robert Longtin's performance has been exemplary not least in the speed and alacrity with which he grasped how the office of the EC functions, but also with his capacity for improving upon how things have previously been done.

So, please join me in congratulating Robert Longtin upon becoming LOTW's Election Coordinator.

Ashley Leighton Plom, Parliament Leader, 6th January 2010

Tuesday 5 January 2010

LOTW requires Parliament Leader to post monthly updates

Resolution #31

LOTW voted on the motion that the Parliament Leader must post monthly updates in Parliament drawn from AJJE figures on the club and site's performance.

The results are 27 in favour, 1 opposed, with 6 abstentions. The motion is therefore passed.

34 voters out of 85 players is a 40% turn-out. This is a bit lower than our last Resolution which saw a record 51 voters (out of 71 players; 65.38%), but the difference can possibly be accounted for by the time year, and possibly by the topic under vote being less directly relevent to many of our players than the issue of character images was. (Few players are as excited about reading the monthly reports in Parliament as they are about uploading a new image for a character!)

Voting opened on the 12th December and closed on the 2nd January.

Ashley Leighton Plom, Parliament Leader, January 4th 2010

Saturday 2 January 2010

Gundam Seed shuts down

Appointment #53

 

Due to zero posts being made in the last month as well as a constant showing in the unhealthy status of the monthly SSR's the Gundam Seed RPE is being shut down. 

 

Eddie Cramer

Head Elder of the Council of Elders

 

Jessica McClary leaves AJJE Games

Appointment #61

I believe that this is officially the hardest appointment that I have ever written. Just to give you all an idea of how difficult it’s been, I’ve been working on it for two weeks. I just can’t seem to get the words out right, which is why I did the long introduction to this one. In all honesty, my time here at SGU has been some of the greatest moments on the internet I’ve ever had. I’ve made so many friends and I’ve shared more laughter than aggravation. That’s something very special and I want you all to realize, to appreciate what a great thing you all have here.

As you all know I came from a club that was filled with bitter politics where you didn’t trust your friends to do more than stab you in the back. That isn’t the case here, in SGU we are all friends and we find ourselves laughing more than screaming. That is truly precious as I have seen the other clubs have their bickering and their fighting, lines drawn in the sand. Something that we have all been spared which is something I give thanks for.

So why this appointment? Well, that’s difficult to explain, but I will try. In the last several months, in fact since last April, I have been going through an awakening of sorts. I don’t want to sound all mystical or anything, but this awakening has been in relations to my faith. In light of this awakening I have rededicated myself to my studies, something I should have done a long time ago. The problem is this: I only have a finite amount of time unfortunately and because most of it is being used, the ability to find time to dedicate myself to actual study was severely compromised so I have to make the time.

Unfortunately I have only one place of flexibility and that means I have to say goodbye, that I am leaving the whole of AJJE Games.

Believe me, that’s harder to write than I thought it would be.

I know many of you will have a mixture of emotions and all I can say is that sometimes we all have to do the hard things to follow the right path for ourselves. I have been role-playing for 22 years and the idea that I might not be doing that any more scares me a little bit because it is such a huge part of my past and present, but when you are looking to the future you have to realize that sometimes the projects that mean the most are also the ones that you have to say goodbye to. The simple fact is that within the last year I have been in and out of active participation and this has affected all of you. I have tried to find a myriad of solutions, but I’m at the last.

While some of you may not agree with me, this choice is for the best of all of us.

With that said, please remember that I am only an e-mail away and I’m always happy to answer questions, give advice and just in general a laugh or hug. My shoulder is always available and despite a lack of presence I’ll still be looking in on you all and always remember, I do have my spies who are more than happy to leak to me little bits of information.

So with all that said, I suppose I better to get to the appointment itself.

Knowing of my plans I began to make the arrangements and in talking with the President and Vice President….my bosses… I was able to nail down the progression of authority for Military Command. I essentially took the fate of SGU in my own hands and got what I wanted…which isn’t all that surprising because I often get what I want (except a cure for the common cold, still waiting for that one folks).

Just recently, in August, this person was not only promoted to Brigadier General but I also named her my successor. I am very happy to make that happen so without further ado I hereby pass the reigns of Operational Leader of SGU to Anna-Lyn Signey who has been involved since the near beginning as Fox MacGyver.

As of the final toll of midnight US Central Time, Anna will be the official leader. Please show her the same love, devotion and dedication to the club that you have all shown me. I know without a doubt that in leaving SGU, I’m leaving my baby in the arms of those who adore it as much as I do.

Be well and know that you are always with me, forever….

Jess McClary
31 Dec 09