Zeta Squadron & TC Report

[Vortagh]

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FROM: LC Vortagh, Navy: Zeta
TO: Zeta Squadron/Navy, Chimaera SCS/Navy, FC/HC, SC/HC
SUBJECT: Report
CONFIRMED: SEND; TRAN 55/60; RECV
CONTEXT: 8E8; ASYS; ROPT;
PHASECYCLE: PSEG2388175401281; WORD; 00.24BMUT; 00.50RMUT


Greetings everyone!

This is the second report of this kind that leaves my office. The last one was met with praise and very positive results in the entire fleet (now, *that* made me proud! :D), so I will keep this format with a few changes. You will see what I mean.
Anyways, time for the actual report:


Report from the office of Lieutenant Commander George Hellaeron Vortagh II, currently leader of Zeta Squadron and Navy TC.


Current Personal Activity:

Quite a bit here.
First of all I lacked a bit in the Free Worlds "department". I played less than usual, basically because I had and still have, lots of other things to do.
- GE DOM II is coming along nicely. I figured I should be able to finish it in the next few days. All that is left are a few missions for TIE Fighter. I might even release a set of "current" scores on the messageboards tomorrow.
- I helped Ensign Zwibble out a bit (a very small bit) with her picture page.
- I checked out quite a bit of programms and add-ons for X-Wing Alliance.
- I started making a nice X-Wing Alliance page (seeing how I am the Tactical Coordinator and always loved this game best. :P)
- I got my Jedi Knight BCC (finally! That game makes me so motion sick, it's a surprise I got to the seventh level without throwing up! At the end I had a splitting headache, so don't expect me to play a lot of JK Ladder matches! :P)
- I got my Jedi Outcast BCC (What a difference to JK! I love this game! :D)
- I got my Battlefront BCC (Fun game! :D)
- I spent quite a while checking out the structure of XWA missions using my copy of AlliED. I think I got a nice understanding now how the whole thing works and I also found out how to get "Dynamic" missions to work. Quite a challange but I think I will accept it! :D
- I spent tons of time on both the IS.Net as well as the GE:ER Message boards. You will see my posts there. :P
- I started working on a few new addons to the original "ImperialSquadrons.Net" page. I don't think I will change the looks of the page at the moment, but we'll see what happenes in a few weeks when both me and Zwib have some time for bigger webdesign projects. Other than that, expect most of the "old" parts of that domain coming back, together with quite a few (well, few is right - big, but few :P) parts.
- I joined the JK ladder together with Lieutenant Steel. Let's see if we can get a few matches on that ladder that seems to be as dead as a doornail otherwise! :P
- I joined the XvT ladder, also together with Lieutenant Steel. Nobody else is on there, so I figure Steel and I will have nice training sessions that we'll get medals for. :P
- I joined the XWA ladder, guess who else came. :P
- I already flew 7 matches on the XWA ladder. 1 against La Forge (I won :P), 5 against JaggedFel (and he beat me two times, curse that rust! :P) and 1 against Steel who beat me from here to the outer rim. :P Well, 6-23 isn't THAT bad when you fly against Steel. :P
- I joined the Jedi Outcast ladder, but I didn't get to play any matches yet. I hope I can get a few matches in a few days when I have a smaller workload.
- I joined the Battlefront ladder and what I said in the point above goes for this one as well.

- I took part in the Inter Club Training Event (ICTE) in channel #outterim this weeked, played 3 matches of XWA and won all three. I'll be there next week as well... :D
- I made a banner for Commander La Forge (ok, I still have to finish it up nicely, but he likes what he got at the moment.)
- I started writing the plot outline for General Jansens "Ewok Hunt" competition. I hope to get it done before the competitions ends. :/
- I have the first design for the Zeta Squadron page in my head and on paper. Let's see if I can get Zwib to make a rough draft for me in the next days.
- Steel and I worked on getting a new set of ladder rules for XvT and XWA out. We realized that the current rules are a rought draft and they need to be clearer. Expect them to be updated any day.
- Steel and I also worked out a solution to "host lag" in XWA and XVT. More on that later when I actually upload my XWA page.
- Got us a faction on Mr Burnouts "24/7 USA Free Worlds server". That's right. I figured I would keep this bit for the end of the list. :P
Read on and you will find more about this later on.


Current Planned Personal Activity
- Finish GE DOM II scores
- Actually start adding my stuff to the GE IRC course (first part) by Jagged Fel.
- Finish making a few banners for Jansen (army competition)
- Finish writing a little story for Jansen (army competition)
- Recruiting two more members to get my MoX-BG
- Actually starting the work on converting my XvT missions/battles
- I just came up with the idea of getting Commander La Forge a "php sandbox" on my IS.Net server. After the chaos that resulted from some bad code on the ER.net database, I figured I might as well use one of my databases to finally give him the sandbox everybody always talks about.


This is still just the "tip of the iceberg" mentioned in last weeks report, but I am getting somewhere. My "to do list" gets new items every few days, but I seem to be able to work of older stuff faster than the new items can come in. Good Thing (TM).




Current Squadron Activity:

I changed this part of the report to actually list what the other members of the squadron have done in the past week. Thanks to Dayton for reminding me of this kind of reporting style.

2nd Lieutenant Steel:

Steel did the usual load of duties. He flew a lot on the Free Worlds server and raked in the big wads of dough. I don't even want to know how much money he currently has, but I know that I am currently carrying 20 millions of his onboard my TIE Interceptor and it didn't make a big dent in his wallet. :P
Other than that he joined the "Sienar Fleet Systems" faction (a subdivision of the empire, the only group that has freighters) to make even more cash by using the bigger ships with more freight capacity. However, he soon found out that the rebels, especially the mean player-kind, do not like imperial-alligned forces either. :P

Steel also took part in a Territorial Engangement earlier this week, that sadly cost the Empire control of the Sienar Shipyards and the Sector Command in Bilbringi.

Besides that Steel sadly got banned from the server today. A server police "officer" suspected him of cheating (which he did not), so we are currently in the process of getting him unbanned. Steel is annoyed about this, which is understandable and was not that willing to return to the server, seeing how it boiled down to his word against the SP - neither side could prove anything. Steel figured that this would be an incident that could not be washed from his vest.
However, the server police officer came and visited out IRC channel earlier today and told me that Steel should request to be unbanned. If he doesn't, most people will actually see this as confirmation that he cheated indeed.
Also, I was told by multiple Server moderators that many people get banned, even those who are now admins, moderators or even server police.
Heads up Steel, I want you back ASAP. :P


2nd Lieutenant Splatter:

Splatter currently is on Leave - he got infected with the Tanaab flu and the medical officers are keeping him on sick bay.
Other than that he flew a few hours on Free Worlds, got himself more accustumed to the server and made a few bucks. :-)


Ensign First Class Zwibble:

Well, you will have noticed that the official GE picpage is back up at www.zwibble.com . I am told by Ensign Zwibble to tell you that if you have any pictures, send them to her at once! And you don't want to anger her or me, hmmm? She spent quite some time on coding the page (she does everything by hand, by god :P) so she didn't do much else.
Well, at least she did play a nice ammount of Freeworlds and tried to install Jedi Outcast in an attempt to get her JO BCC. Well, she'll be able to get to it at some point.
Her current plans are getting to work on the Zeta Squadron page and finally get BCCs in JK, JO, BF, XvT and XWA!


Good job to all squadron members!
Each of you did a nice ammount of personal work and I know that you will all live up to my bragging. :P




Other Squadron Related Activity:

Admiral Fel took mercy on me and removed both Ensign Drachen and Ensign Deadly_Sinn.
Neither of them ever reported back to me in ages.

Thanks to my constant pestering of everybody in charge, we now have the "Empire Reborn" faction on Mr Burnouts Free Worlds server, with me as leader, of course and our tag is [IN-GE:ER]. "IN" stands for Imperial Navy and means we are part of the "general" Empire fraction on said server. We aren't big enough to warrant our own faction, let alone having any idea how to explain why there should be a big empire *and* us on the same server, so I got in contact with the current Emperor Tartan and in the following dialog, I got us a "Strike Fleet". The EH for example has their own Strike Fleet on the server as well.
This will open new possibilities for us on the server. In the next days I will set up the faction for comfortable use and get everybody informed.
Our current shiplist looks like this:
TIE Fighter, TIE-Phantom, TIE Interceptor, TIE Bomber, TIE Gunship, TIE Avenger <- These are "non-Ãœber Ships". Everybody in the faction can buy and fly them.
TIE Defender, TIE Defender MKII, Assault Gunboat, Missileboat <- These are "Ãœber Ships". At the moment we have not a single one and I guarantee you that I will get the first one. Hmmmm TIE/D or GUN....? :P




Current GE activity/competitions:

I just copy/pasted this part. All three competitions are still open and going. Please see if you can whips something up! :D
Currently these are interesting to us:
- First of all, General Jansen of the Army still has two competitions going on. We have a competition creating banners for the army units
(I Corps, 1st Brigade, Dragon, Hornet, Raider, Spearhead), as well as a competition for writing a little story about an ewok hunt.
Links:
http://empirereborn.net/holonet/viewtopic.php?t=555
http://empirereborn.net/holonet/viewtopic.php?t=427

- We also have a recruiting drive going on on the Academy. You can read about it here:
http://empirereborn.net/holonet/viewtopic.php?t=574
As you can see, there are still a few weeks left until it ends and there are nice medals to get in addition to the normal medals you would get. That also means possibly more people to fly with if we succeed in that.

- There is a new campaign coming up. Keep your eyes on the forums these days. Fleet Admiral Polanski currently hinted that this campaign *CAN* have *bad* effects on our own GE - i.e. we can lose ships, squadrons and so on. I hope the GE will not lose anything important - Zeta Squadron. :P





Standing Orders:

Ah, more of this hated section :P

- The usual status update. Seeing how everybody tends to send this in every second day, every third day at least, it just acts as a constant reminder. :-)
Btw Ensign Zwibble, I know you are sitting 2 meters from me, but La Forge isn't - so write a report once in a while for him, or else he throws sand at you. :P

- Last week I ordered you to be active on the messageboards and you are on the IS.Net MBs. Just expand it to the GE:Er boards, too if you can! :-)
There have been no new posts on the current GE campaign, but I figure there should be new stuff there soon.

- Again - I would like you to remind you of the competitions mentioned in the "GE competitions" section, above. It would be great to see stuff handed in from some of you. I am sure some of you are capable of doing that. :)


- As I mentioned before, both Steel and I signed up for several ladders. I know Ensign Zwibble is preparing to get her BCCs (she only has TIE and FW at the moment) and then participate in all ladders, but I also want you people to *fly/fight* there, not just sign up. :P

- Standing orders for missions are still the same! The following people still need to fly said missions:

Vortagh:
ERS-1, ERS-2, ERS-3, ERS-4, ERS-5, ERS-6, ERS-7, ERS-8, ERS-9, ERS-10, ERS-18, ERS-21, ERS-22, ERS-23, ERS-24, ERS-25, ERS-26, ERS-27, ERS-28, ERS-29, ERS-30, ERS-31, ERS-39, ERS-40, ERS-41, ERS-43, ERS-44, ERS-45, ERS-46, ERS-48, ERS-50, ERS-52, ERS-55, ERS-56, ERS-57, ERS-58, ERS-59, ERS-60, ERS-61;

Steel:
ERS-4, ERS-6, ERS-14, ERS-16, ERS-17, ERS-21, ERS-22, ERS-23, ERS-25, ERS-27, ERS-31, ERS-33, ERS-39, ERS-40
ERS-42, ERS-43, ERS-44, ERS-45, ERS-46, ERS-47, ERS-48, ERS-49, ERS-50, ERS-52, ERS-55, ERS-59, ERS-60;

Splatter:
ERS-23, ERS-30, ERS-39, ERS-40, ERS-43, ERS-56, ERS-57, ERS-58, ERS-59;

Zwibble:
ERS-1, ERS-3, ERS-7, ERS-11, ERS-12, ERS-13, ERS-17, ERS-19, ERS-20, ERS-22, ERS-25, ERS-30, ERS-32, ERS-33, ERS-34, ERS-35, ERS-36, ERS-37, ERS-38, ERS-39, ERS-40, ERS-41, ERS-42, ERS-43, ERS-46, ERS-47, ERS-48, ERS-49, ERS-50, ERS-51, ERS-52, ERS-53, ERS-54, ERS-55, ERS-56, ERS-57, ERS-58, ERS-60, ERS-61;


Nothing has changed here since the last report. :P
Well, I can understand that nobody is too keen on getting them done. :P




Current Squadron Roster:

1-1: LC George Hellaeron Vortagh
1-2: EF It Zwibble
2-1: 2LT Steel
3-1: 2LT Splatter




Medals, Awards, Promotions, Demotions, New Cadets:

LC Vortagh: MoM - for helping getting #galactic_empire registered

LC Vortagh: SS - an old award from Daemon himself for keeping the ladders up and running during the old "empire reborn" phase

LC Vortagh: IS with 1 pip - for participating in the "Purge Orus" campaign.

LC Vortagh: MoX - well, this one was added again because it wasn't taken over when we moved away from the old nexus database.

As you can see, I got myself a few medals that I was still waiting for (and I am still expecting a few more :P).




News from the office for Tactical Coordination:

As mentioned on the messageboards and in my last report, I have been named Officer of Tactical Coordination for all branches of the GE. That means I am responsible for everything screaming "mission" in your face - in the entire GE.
Seeing how I took that job as an addition to my current job, I asked Admiral Fel and he gave me permission to enter the TC report into this one. :-)
Plus - there isn't much to report. :P

Currently I put most of my time and energy into other duties, but as I mentioned in the main part of the report, I have been busy with XWA-related stuff.
I am creating a page for XWA addons, mods, tips and the like.
Why XWA? XWA is the newest of the Navy simulations and badly needs to be upgraded and made more "alluring" to people. I think I am doing a nice job and you will soon see the page.

Other than that, my duties are to check missions that you send in. Send where? Send to me. That easy? Of course not, here are a few guidelines that will help me do a better job and keep me from feeding you alive to a bunch of predator-nerfs:

1.) Submit everything by email ONLY. I need to cataloge missions in my inbox, because I can assure you that I will not immedeately jump on every mission you throw at me like a starved Wampa on a Burger King menu.

2.) Please zip (or better rar) all the missions you send me. I don't want to waste any of my (currently) limited bandwidth. :P

3.) I would like to know beforehand what I am going to test, so please give me a little line about what you created (what game, how many battles, how many missions each battle, summary of storyline, any problems you cannot get ironed out, any questions, etc). Also, remember to use a good subject line for your email. "Stuff for you" is definitely not, "Missions for TC" would be appropriate, "TIE Battle for TC" would be best.

4.) Keep in mind that I am currently a VERY busy man! My desk is literally covered in paperwork (I mean it) and things keep piling up allthough I am currently working about 10 hours a day on getting stuff done. I will not be able to start on any missions you send me until at least the end of the next week!




Praise and Criticism:

Praise of the week goes to *drumroll*:
Commander La Forge. Yes, Commander - forgetting to add the "WHERE" clause in a PHP function, so it changes the values of everybody in the database to be stationed in the 1-3 spot of Zeta Squadron IS something to recieve praise for. I appreciated your intent of getting Zeta up and running! :P

Criticism of the week goes to:
Commander La Forge. No, commander - forgetting to add the "WHERE" clause in a PHP function, so it changes the values of everybody in the database to be stationed in the 1-3 spot of Zeta Squadron is not a good idea at all. We don't have that many bunks. :P
Our quartermaster nearly got a stroke when he saw all those officers with their baggage standing in front of him, waving transfer sheets at his face. :P




Quote of the week:

[00:27:16] * Joins: GEN_Jansen
[00:27:16] * X sets mode: +o GEN_Jansen
[00:27:21] <Vortagh> Heya Jansen
[00:27:25] * Dayton salutes
[00:27:40] <GEN_Jansen> Blast.. That rebel is using my nick again..
[00:27:42] <GEN_Jansen> Hello
[00:27:48] * GEN_Jansen Returns Salute
[00:28:13] <Zwibble> That's what happens when one shares a name with a Rebel hero, unfortunately. :P
[00:28:38] <GEN_Jansen> na.. The rebel is Jensen, not Jansen
[00:29:00] <Zwibble> Rebels can't spell. :P
[00:29:05] <GEN_Jansen> hehe
[00:29:20] <Vortagh> Wes Janson :P
[00:29:37] <GEN_Jansen> JLT Dayton.. Despach Dragon Company and spam him till he signs off so I can use my nick..:-P
[00:29:47] <Dayton> Aye General.
[00:29:49] <Zwibble> Ah, I was right. i thought it was Janson. :P
[00:29:54] * Dayton gets pinging
[00:30:12] * Quits: Dayton (Excess Flood)


:P


Vortagh's rules of being a Supreme Commander:

#2 Don't give out full access to the main computer core to an officer still in training.




That was it, hope you enjoyed the show. Until next time,

Lieutenant Commander George Hellaeron "Raptor" Vortagh
LC Vortagh / Zeta 1-1 / ISD Chimaera / Imperial Navy
[GS] [SS] [BS]x2 [IS-1P] [MoM] [ICC] [LSM-6S] [MoC-2S] [MoX]

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[LC La Forge]

Right. I'm not even going to attempt to defend myself here. You all have free reign until the hosting company gets the db backup restored.

That should occur in under 12 hours. Get a move on.

Oh, and thanks, Vort, for in/directly mentioning me and my little mistake over four times in the same report.

[Jacob Jansen]

LOL like the quote.. As always, very nice report!

[Fel]

Oh, and thanks, Vort, for in/directly mentioning me and my little mistake over four times in the same report.

Just wait until the Fleet Report comes out this weekend...

[Vortagh]

@La Forge: I am glad I could be of any service. :P Your popularity in Zeta squadron has risen to an all time high. Well, except for the quartermasters office. :P

@Jansen: Dayton made my day that day. Hm, too many days. Dayton, rename yourself! Howabout Nighton? :P

@Fel: I can't wait. :P

[Dayton]

Well I have a friend who's name is 'Blighton' But he's just a blighter. So I don't think we want him here in the Empire

And no - I must respectfully decline that order, sir.

[LC La Forge]

Fel: Be merciful.

Vort: Good to hear. I assume I can stop by the bar now and get free drinks whenever I want?

[Vortagh]

If you get past the quartermaster and his crew who wants to kill you - sure. :P

[LC La Forge]

Hey now, he knows very well I'm a master at finding bunks. Why, I remember when we stopped at this one planet for shore leave (Captain Calder was away, of course ), and... well, I've said too much. Suffice it to say it required finding more bunks.

[Vortagh]

La Forge, EVERYTHING you do is bunk. :P

[LC La Forge]

That's right, and proud of it.

[Vortagh]

Speaking of bunk, do you like your new rank on the MBs? :P

[LC La Forge]

Is that supposed to be funny?

Put it back!

[Vortagh]

Of course it is.

And it's nothing I can do, sorry. :P

[LC La Forge]

What's ironic is that the same powers that let me mess of the DB also let me put that back to "Commander".

However, I shall let it sit there for a bit, because I deserve it.