B E A C O N
This needs to hyperlink to the image source, not the image itself. If the source was a screencap (let's say from a game) then request they state the source media, like SWTOR, and maybe link to their website.
Read through the submission, then read this. Puts the submission into perspective. You can normally tell what the submission is being used for because of this handy field.
For restricted materials (baseline):
- Unique - Semi-Unique: No less than ten posts, asking for ten to fifteen is acceptable.
- Limited: No less than twenty posts. Asking for a bit more is fine, but be mindful of the work put in.
- Minor: No less than thirty posts, asking for more here is fine if the submission requires it. Minor production of restricted materials, especially in armor, should be looked at with some scrutiny.
Any armor over quality of 8 or greater and production of minor or above should generally have development tacked on, though if development is already included for another reason (such as phrik) to cover production of the restricted material then there is little reason to ask for more.
Any armor of quality 9 above unique should have a development thread. Based on your judgement you may also ask for development on unique armors that are quality 9, especially if no development is already there.
Armor of quality ten will always require development.
As always, check the standardized development thread for anything else - does this hinder the force being used on the wearer without a reasonable drawback? Ask for dev. Stealth? Ask for dev.
All power armors with augmentation that aren't designated purely for utility tasks (like moving boxes) and have some viability in combat require development. Same goes with increasing force strength.
All manufacturers must be hyperlinked (exceptions being NPC groups and factions). If the manufacturer cannot produce this then the manufacturer must be changed. If the manufacturer is a chaos company you may request they have the operation added to the company submission, but archive this until that is done. The tier of company may also effect the production, so if this is a tier 1 company there's a good chance they may not be able to mass produce that special armor.
This is largely negligible, it doesn't impact the submission - just make sure it is included and filled out.
Usually this doesn't make a huge difference, but restricting specifically to a single group or even a single character can sometimes act in a similar manner to reducing production. Inversely, making a production of lightsabers for a faction rather than an individual can raise issues.
The more modular the armor, the more scrutiny it should be looked at. If the armor is fully customizable then it should probably be on the lower production scale - depending on how complete the armor is in body coverage and so on.
This is usually something we/I spring to depending on other factors in the submission. If the item is mass produced, how high is the quality, what special qualities does the armor have? The same pretty much goes all the way to unique, where we/I become a bit more lenient - but not so lenient that we let things slip through which should require development or changes. If the armor has a restricted material, for example, and only a 10 post development thread for phrik mining and minor production, the submitter will be asked for an additional development (+20 posts, as 10 is usually unique/semi-unique and 20 is usually limited, so 30 would logically be minor) or a drop in production to meet the development. In this situation I would ask for semi-unique or unique if 10 posts are listed.
Production can similarly be effected by special features - if the armor is a force nexus, a real one, then I'm going to be looking at production harder (as I would if it were a restricted material).
Similarly, I'm going to be extremely analytic of submissions with quality 10.
For restricted materials:
- Production should not be mass produced.
- Minor Production, Alchemized Terentatek Leather (Limited force resistance), Beskar, and strength augmentation - Minimum of 50 posts.
Here's one of the most looked-at part of the submission for armor, second maybe to quality. If the material is a heavy metal, is the weight proportionate (and the quality to that?), and if the material light - light? Phrik is famously an ultra-light material, and songsteel of similar weight, and both grant superior durability, so situations where these materials are used grant leniency on weight, and what would normally be light armor (by weight standard) would quickly become very protective (example: 5-7kg and ~8 quality). If the material is beskar, I'm looking at much greater weight than standard durasteel or other "normal" weight groups, as it is explained to be much heavier than durasteel (as well as more durable). Obviously the same weight group of durasteel to beskar is going to have beskar with greater quality, however, so don't be stuck in that "it doesn't weigh enough" trap.
Examples used here were for full mandalorian-style armor.
This works similarly to intent, giving us an idea of what this armor is for.
And here we see the biggest trap in armor submissions. I think we should take special care to read the template here so we all stay on the same page - Weight varies from material to material, quality of armor, and species (because of the size of the armor). As I summarized above in the materials section, phrik can be light and beskar heavy - but this is in comparison to our medium, durasteel. Keep careful to not assign a weight to a quality, it simply isn't always the case. When in doubt, ask for a second opinion.
And be careful when dealing with alchemy, as it is a common misconception that anything involving it is immediately doubled/tripled. The use of alchemy that increases the weight of the armor is due to the addition of other materials during the process of alchemy, so if the armor utilizes alchemy to specifically change the polarity of the metal (see blast doors) so that it reflects blaster bolts and doesn't defend from lightsabers, keeps normal/below-average resistance from physical blows, and the weight is proportionate (with the material involved) to the quality and its size, there is little to no reason to go crazy over the weight. Edits for the sake of edits is bad.
Here is an excerpt from Rusty's view on weight of armors which should be kept in mind:
And now to one of the fun parts. Quality. This is heavily dependent on the materials, and failing that - how heavy (due to size/thickness) it is. If the armor is a 20 kg suit of durasteel, quality 8 is certainly feasible, but 4 kg of durasteel spread into a thin suit of armor is certainly not going to be a quality of 8 without other factors (special features, another material, alchemy, etc). If the quality is over 7 and is over limited production it is my recommendation to check the other parts of the sub (such as materials, special features, weight, and function) to see if development is necessary. Quality of 10 should always require development, except in extremely special circumstances - which should be discussed within the factory with each case.
And now the real fun part. Here we check to see if the armor is overpowered (does it block lightsabers, deflect blasters, stop all bullets, etc? If so, check to see if sub is screwed in right) beyond quality and materials.
Lightsaber resistance - Most situations where lightsaber resistance are being asked will require development unless the material used is a submitted material which has already had development done for it. On smaller scale things, canon applications of sith alchemy and force imbuement (and other force stuff) may supersede the previous note, of which I mean things such as braces, gauntlets, maybe sections of plate armor but not the whole thing, and so on. Even in these situations, if you feel it needs development you can still ask for it - but I suggest asking for a second opinion on that choice first, in the case of such canon uses.
Body Augmentation - This almost always requires development, as per the standard development list in the factory information forum, and can range from such things like strength augmentation, reactionary increases, speed bonuses, force augmentation, and so on. If you feel unsure on this, ask away. I lean on the side of development here, though.
As with the special features, the description should go over all the special stuff that makes this armor stand out. Not only that, it should explain about the armor itself (what materials, how thick/thin it is, etc) and go over strengths and weaknesses. A basic set of vanilla stormtrooper armor is obviously going to be a rather bland paragraph of detail, but it should still encapsulate the entire submission in at least a summary here. The less special the armor is the less detail needs to be here, but the minimum should be at least a paragraph of detail. Anything special should be two, maybe three, paragraphs. Specialized armor may require more, but I'd leave that up to the judgement of the judge as it is more circumstantial. Make sure to read through this in its entirety, as some may add stuff here and forget to add it into the special features or vice-versa.
If the submission is based on another, make sure this is filled out. If it isn't, and the submitter is copying off of another submission, ask them first, and if they say they are not (and it is clear they are) you may contact an admin or RPJ (you can do this before-hand, too, but they will probably advise you to do these steps anyways) and then mark it for denial - Plagiarism is against the rules for both the site and in the factory, and it is treated seriously. If the submitter acknowledges the submission was based on another, make sure they include the original submission here, hyperlinked, and ensure it isn't too closely similar (as to not be a copy and paste).
This field is entirely to prevent plagiarism, as well as to give the judge and other observers the insight on what the submitter was using as a basis when writing their submission.
[member="Cira"] [member="Raziel"] [member="Spencer Varanin"]
