State of the V:EKN: August 2012

As posted on VEKN.net on August 22nd, 2012:

Fellow Methuselahs,

I am daring the bursting sunlight to get you some news of things happening within the V:EKN.

We had an announcement a couple of months back that we wanted to staff some (new) positions within the V:EKN. I am pleased to announce that we have chosen Antonio Cobo Cuenca to become the Vice Chairman. He is originally from Spain but currently residing in Paris. I would think he is an excellent choice, having a background in different playgroups and also being a long time contributor. Of course the availability of a Vice Chairman will help me and help smoothing out the situations where I am stuck with real-life situations. On top of that Mike Nudd will take up the responsibility of Storyline Coordinator. He is from the UK and currently the prince of London. With an extensive background in game development he will be working closely with the Design Team to bring you some exciting new storyline ideas. Expect something for late in the year, we will poll on some options soon.

We are still working on Marketing and Spokesperson, but very close to a decision. Expect to hear something in the next couple of days. Certainly it has been very interesting that with all the complaints of the V:EKN being a secretive organization there have been very few actual applications for the positions.

Certainly you have been reading about the new fan-based set that is currently being developed and produced by the V:EKN. Progress is good and from a personal perspective I am very excited to see everything coming together with artwork and actual cards designs. The release schedule is not yet very clear but, barring any unforeseen problems, we should make it available late in the year, certainly there will be a display of cards at the European Championship.

Our Nosferatu have been productive as well so we are currently in the alpha testing stages of the rating system event reporting/upload module. Alpha testing means it does actually look and work like it will in the end but there are still some rough edges and real bugs. We will move to an open beta testing by mid-September, so prepare your Archons and get ready to upload and give feedback. The first priority will be to get the current design and workflow online and in use, we will then do a second round of development where you all can give suggestions for improvement.

Everything is on track regarding the biggest V:TES event of the year, European Championship in Budapest. There are over a 100 people per-registered already so do not hesitate and get your trip booked (www.vtes2012.com/). For those of you who did not attend a continental championship so far I can only encourage you to take part in this certainly unique and worthwhile experience.

Johannes Walch
Chairman of the V:EKN