skin, bone, and arrogance
Hello, everyone, and welcome to 2019! It's a brand new year and a brand new opportunity for the First Order to put its stamp on the galaxy. Stay tuned for further updates on the direction of our faction and new story arcs coming from your admin team. In the interim, I wanted to take a quick moment to reintroduce myself and let you all know that I will be taking on member services and outreach for the First Order. I have some plans that I'd like to share with you, as well as some things I'd like you to do for me to help improve our faction. So without further fuss, please read on for the things I plan to do for the First Order starting today. - Refurbishment of the First Order forums: While much of our faction business takes place on the Discord, there is plenty of information that is available and useful on our forums. We've made revisions to the forums a few times and tried to make it user-friendly and approachable for new members and old ones alike, and I am committing to continuing that effort to make our forums as attractive and useful as possible. To that end, you may notice that some things have changed on the First Order homepage. This is still very much a work in progress, so please feel free to check back and see updates as they come. With the assistance of [member="Luther Ando"] and my staff colleagues, we are reworking the content and presentation on this page to modern standards and to reflect some of the changes we've made since the faction began some years ago.
- Member of the Month: We used to do a member of the month and that has rather fallen off in the last several months as we've focused on other priorities. Beginning in January 2019 (see below for this month's Member of the Month!) I will be selecting a member of the faction to be highlighted. Every member of our faction is valuable, but Members of the Month will usually showcase dedication above and beyond the call to contribute to our faction. Members of the month have demonstrated friendship, activity, and loyalty to the faction and we wish to recognize them for these reasons.
- Member Outreach: Our faction is primarily about roleplaying, and so we would prefer that our members remain active in faction threads and efforts, but we're also friends and would like to socialize outside of the roleplaying environment. I would like to begin to hold regular, fun social events like we once had, including online Cards Against Humanity and other games (Hearts of Iron, Company of Heroes, and other video games) where we can kick back and have fun. We have a very diverse group of players -- including Australians -- so it might be difficult to get a time that works for everyone, but we will do our best to accommodate as many people as possible.
- Thread Tracking: I will attempt to publish a 'news' item that lists the threads that are available for First Order writers to join so that there is always a list of threads that anyone can hop in!
- First Order State Media: I plan to use the First Order State Media blog to more effect in 2019, and using it to highlight the activities of the First Order. If you feel there is something going on that should be covered by the state media, please get in touch with me (via a PM here, or DM me on Discord, or tag me on the First Order discord (@Penny#6763)) and let me know.
- Advertisements: The staff will work on reaching out and asking for new members in advertising this year. However, please feel free to reach out to new members in the 'looking for group' sections of the forum and SWRP Discord if you see someone looking for faction recommendations!
That's my agenda for the coming year, as I see it now. If you have any suggestions as to what I can do to make the First Order more approachable and accessible.
Now the moment you've all been waiting for, January 2019's Member of the Month is [member="Marriskcal Lati"]! Join me in congratulating our very own ghostwrite!
Ghostwrite has been an eager and energetic member of the First Order since she joined us some months back, and has been a positive and pleasant presence in the First Order chat since then. We have been blessed to have her as a member, and I have particularly enjoyed writing with her naval character in the invasion of Skor II. Please join me in congratulating [member="Marriskcal Lati"] / [member="Kou'ha Escala"] for being January 2019's Member of the Month!
