Monday 3-Oct-2011, 01:35 AM
Hello everyone,
I wanted to stop by to share my thoughts on some of the topics brought up here. I don't expect to change anyone's view on the deathtrooper, but do hope to explain the logic behind adding them to the 501st.
I'm going to try to hit all of the points brought up here but I'm typing on an iPhone so things may be a bit less well put together than I would like.
Deathtroopers were never supposed to be approved.
I'm not sure where that idea came from. The first deathtrooper submission was made last year. Lmo Spanos denied the costume, but stated that the character would be acceptable should one be built to the standard he described. My suit was based on what he said he would like to see. I am happy to dig out the actual quote when I am back on a full sized computer.
Abuse of power.
Several comments here.
First as stated above the decision to include the deathtrooper was made prior to our staff even considering taking office.
Second, don't think for a moment that LMO Rucci treats me better than anyone else. He denied my Fordo costume earlier this year just like he would have anyone else.
Last, this costume was built in accordance with the FISD developed crl, which I did not write.
As LMO it is difficult to do anything without someone, somewhere thinking it is an abuse of office. Before I took office I was a big proponent of experimenting with new to the legion costuming. I brought the first clone wars animated armor into the club, and the first clone wars mandalorian. Being lmo doesn't mean I'll stop doing that but I accept that there will be more scrutiny.
Regarding the references for the character.
The deathtroopers were introduced in the Lucasfilm authorized novel of the same name. It is a book about a zombie apocalypse scenario happening on a star destroyer.
Lucasfilm explicitly asked several of our socal garrison members to make deathtroopers to support their book tour. Lfl requested the bloodier the better.
It doesn't stop there. The deathtroopers are part of the Star Wars Galaxies game, the same source that gives us the nova troopers. There is an entire mission in the game dedicated to the deathtrooper arc.
Gentle giant has produced an excellent deathtrooper bust.
The second in the star wars horror book series has come out recently but I haven't read it yet.
In short, they have as much canon reference as many other eu characters. So while not characters well liked by all, we are not in the business of making value judgements on characters.
Wearing them to hospitals.
If you look at the work in progress crl at 501st.com you will see that there is a statement about the eligibility of them at various events. I should hope that our members and command staff are responsible enough to know what is and is not appropriate.
Regarding the hive of villainy.
This is a bit off topic but worth addressing.
That was put on hold by the Council not the command staff.
The reason is that the proposed dl does not have an applicable costume. He applied for the detachment while his Hett costume was still in discussion with the existing detachments.
Flagship Eclipse chose to embrace Hett as the predecessor of Krayt.
A detachment cannot be founded by someone who is not a member. Simple as that.
We are currently working on a number of issues related to this. We want these costumes to have a home as much as anyone.
I'll stop by again later when I have a full sized keyboard to discuss further.
I wanted to stop by to share my thoughts on some of the topics brought up here. I don't expect to change anyone's view on the deathtrooper, but do hope to explain the logic behind adding them to the 501st.
I'm going to try to hit all of the points brought up here but I'm typing on an iPhone so things may be a bit less well put together than I would like.
Deathtroopers were never supposed to be approved.
I'm not sure where that idea came from. The first deathtrooper submission was made last year. Lmo Spanos denied the costume, but stated that the character would be acceptable should one be built to the standard he described. My suit was based on what he said he would like to see. I am happy to dig out the actual quote when I am back on a full sized computer.
Abuse of power.
Several comments here.
First as stated above the decision to include the deathtrooper was made prior to our staff even considering taking office.
Second, don't think for a moment that LMO Rucci treats me better than anyone else. He denied my Fordo costume earlier this year just like he would have anyone else.
Last, this costume was built in accordance with the FISD developed crl, which I did not write.
As LMO it is difficult to do anything without someone, somewhere thinking it is an abuse of office. Before I took office I was a big proponent of experimenting with new to the legion costuming. I brought the first clone wars animated armor into the club, and the first clone wars mandalorian. Being lmo doesn't mean I'll stop doing that but I accept that there will be more scrutiny.
Regarding the references for the character.
The deathtroopers were introduced in the Lucasfilm authorized novel of the same name. It is a book about a zombie apocalypse scenario happening on a star destroyer.
Lucasfilm explicitly asked several of our socal garrison members to make deathtroopers to support their book tour. Lfl requested the bloodier the better.
It doesn't stop there. The deathtroopers are part of the Star Wars Galaxies game, the same source that gives us the nova troopers. There is an entire mission in the game dedicated to the deathtrooper arc.
Gentle giant has produced an excellent deathtrooper bust.
The second in the star wars horror book series has come out recently but I haven't read it yet.
In short, they have as much canon reference as many other eu characters. So while not characters well liked by all, we are not in the business of making value judgements on characters.
Wearing them to hospitals.
If you look at the work in progress crl at 501st.com you will see that there is a statement about the eligibility of them at various events. I should hope that our members and command staff are responsible enough to know what is and is not appropriate.
Regarding the hive of villainy.
This is a bit off topic but worth addressing.
That was put on hold by the Council not the command staff.
The reason is that the proposed dl does not have an applicable costume. He applied for the detachment while his Hett costume was still in discussion with the existing detachments.
Flagship Eclipse chose to embrace Hett as the predecessor of Krayt.
A detachment cannot be founded by someone who is not a member. Simple as that.
We are currently working on a number of issues related to this. We want these costumes to have a home as much as anyone.
I'll stop by again later when I have a full sized keyboard to discuss further.