Company Report - Open Door Edition

"Well, it's certainly been a while since I've addressed a crowd like this, and I believe this is Mr Pink's first such video conference on such a large scale. We're simulcasting across the islands as we speak, and of course will leave this up for people to review later on too."

First and foremost, I'd like to make a very important announcement - so important, it's in bold and huge!



We've been working hard behind the scenes getting things ready, as you've probably realised by now, what with testing the waters with our Easter event (which Taz shall close with a short comic very soon), and doing a lot of 'paperwork' and planning in the admin blocks to bring Y1 full circle to a proper close, but also to open the floodgates to Y2 at the same time. In terms of this Journal, I'm posting the Y2 news first, as people are more vocal about Y2 actually starting than seeing Y1 end. Y1 closing news will be featured towards the bottom, and it will include info about the remaining action from Y2 Round Zero.

As to be expected with the end of the hiatus, you're going to see lots of shiny new things flow into your inbox over the next several weeks. The admin will be submitting as much Location ref as we can muster, there's a new comic coming this way that recaps Y1 right through to the Y2 launch, as well as admin app updates, and a few new NPCs that'll be introduced in short order.

Of course, it won't be just the admin pushing through as much art as we can muster - You guys will be furiously arting away too! So here's the first Y2 section set aside for you ~

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As of today, Applications submissions are again OPEN within the BFOI. Like before, you may choose from two factions - The School-based Frontier Initiative, or the Construction-based Valkyrie Industries. Bear in mind, there's no neutral ground to enter the contest on - You must place your bets on one team or the other! The NPC app is open for secondary characters and people who wish to be able to take in mini contests, but not compete in the main event itself.


The rules for the Apps are the same as before, and although Gen 6 Pkmn are beginning to surface, they are not allowed as of yet.

You can submit Apps to the correct folder in here: battle-frontier.deviantart.com…



Y2 R1 will officially open June 1st at noon, NZ Time - That's May 31st 11:59pm GMT.

Like with the now defunct Round Zero (previously known as Pre-R1 challenge), Applications will remain OPEN throughout the round, to allow for new people to join in before it's too late.

Will I give you the details on what Y2R1 will be? Hahaha no. XD You'll have to wait until June 1st to see what we have in store for you. There IS going to be a bonus for those who completed R0 entries, which is explained further below in the R0/Y1 Close section.

If you did not fully complete your R0 entry, I'd suggest finishing it off now, else you won't be eligible for the R1 Bonus.

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At first glance, this seems like an odd section to have in a journal report, but hear me out.

Many of you have no real idea what Valkyrie is about, and what they're doing on the islands, beyond the same generic 'construction' line of talk. Many have got this ill-concieved noton that Valkyrie is evil and is going to destroy the Islands at some point.

I'm going to tell you that this is not the case. And not in the 'I'm attempting to throw you off the story lol' kind of way either.

First and foremost, is that there's no hate between these two comapnies. There's a rivalry in terms of the fact that they're both sponsoring trainers in the new challenge, but there's none of this junk about 'lost territory' or that Valkyrie pushed Iniative into a corner, etc etc. They're two very different businesses and are nowhere near the same market.

"But the Valkies bought out the Big Island and kicked everyone off it! That's totally evil!"

Not entirely true, as they only bought out sections of the residential zones to get people to move away, and directly forced buyouts on those who refused to leave despite safety concerns and new regulations condemning many homes and buildings.
The entire Island is one big construction zone now - Hero City, Paradise Parks and a new Volcano Town are being re/built and any city NOT damaged in Y1's events has been going through structural strengthening, not unlike when a building undergoes Quake Strengthening.
But eventually, as towns and cities become safe, they will again let people migrate back home, and begin the process anew on the other islands.

"Okay fine, but Valkyrie lets bad guys compete in the challenge! That's totally evil!"

Actually, they don't. Did you read the info on the VI app at all?
Directly pulled from the app is: "While Valkyrie is a lot looser in terms of its competitors pasts than Initiative - they will not tolerant people of 'evil' teams that strive to disrupt the contest. Therefore people blalantly strolling around in evil team uniforms will be punted off the island."
So in other words, ONLY if you keep it under wraps are you allowed to have a sketchy past and keep in contact with your boss.

"Well, Valkyrie uses Black as a main colour! That's totally evil!"

You're kidding right? We chose black and white for the companies as they're opposites. These two companies are like two sides of the same coin, really. Not convinced? Let me continue further.

The best way to describe these two companies, and how they regard one another, is to imagine Disaster as a Disease.

Initiative aims to be the Cure while Valkyrie aims to be the Vaccine.

Both have the same goal of fixing the problem, but wildly different views in how best to achieve such an aim. Initiative believe that not every crisis is foreseeable, so one must be able and ready to respond when crisis does erupt, so they teach readiness.
Valkyrie believes that FI's view is not the case, and argues the disasters that occured in Y1 were all preventable, thus they teach vigilance.

But what does this mean for you, as a sponsored Trainer with either company?

Each side will have slight and sometimes not-so-slight variances throughout the contest that will challenge you in different ways. Initiative is ultimately a school at it's core, and you may be likely to see a few 'community' challenges whereas Valkyrie may end up getting you to help with their construction and business work. At this stage, who knows what could be asked of you ~

What you need to decide on is which side you wish to represent in the Y2 Challenge. Do you agree with Initiative's Ideals more? Or does the Truth that Valkyrie bring to the table resonate more closely instead?

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Onto the next topic, is news on the close of Year One - The 'Moving Forward' comic has been pulled and there will be a new one replacing it covering the events of Y1, through to the launch of Y2. This will serve as a quick(ish) reference for new members as well as a means to see what is and isn't considered canon for the BFOI. This comic will begin to be upload from now onwards, updating every time we finish a double page set (not unlike how the R10 went).

Next up is something the Y1 people have been wanting to know for a while now - Who came out on top in Round Zero?

It pleases me to announce that we have decided on two winners for R0, and they are:



On the topic of R0, I mentioned earlier that there will be a R1 Bonus for those who completed thier entries - That is, fully completed the 3 given tasks. Anyone with a DNF in R0 will not qualify for the R1 Bonus, but I am willing to give people a chance to finish what they started. Basically, this is a special extension only for those with partial entries in R0 - This is not an opening for new R0 entries, if you did not enter R0, then you need to wait for R1 - It's only three weeks away at time of writing anywho ~

And before we end this section, I'd also like to announce the winners of the last mini-contest we hosted, which was the 2012 All Hallows. We had two sections people entered in during that event, and I'd like to announce that these fine folks are the winners:



All remaining prize winners will be contacted by our group HR Rep in short order to sort out the matter of prizes, so please keep an eye on your notes.

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Being that this group is just as much a community as it is a contest, we welcome contact from you all. Comments, suggestions, queries and opinions are all important, and the BFOI Chatroom is consistantly a good place to visit for feedback, constructive crit, to bounce ideas around, and find answers to some of the more commonly asked questions out there that the FAQ may not cover.

I'd also like to take a moment just to remind people of a couple of common courtesies regarding feedback though too.

Under no circumstances should you send group related questions to any admin's personal account. If you have a Group query, check the FAQ, and if the answer is not there, then either ask the Chat Room or send a note to the group itself.
Negative comments aimed at other competitors and/or admin such as "so-and-so shouldn'tve passed, their art is crap" are counted as bullying and won't be tolerated. If you have grievances with the group, please act like an adult and discuss it directly with the admin - Don't air your dirty laundry like some high school drama llama.
We are not going to be able to please everybody. That's a given fact - so please, if we're doing something you specifically may not like, please remember that there are many others who DO like it, and that we're acting in what we believe to be in the best interests for the group.
Accept it, move on, and have fun. If you get hung up on complaining about every little thing that goes on, then you won't have time to have fun and we have to ask, what are you doing here if you're not letting yourself have fun?

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Well now, that's certainly been a LOT of info to take in (imagine how long it took to type out!), so I shall leave you with happy thoughts and excitement for what is to come. Y2 is set to be bigger than Y1 (and with hopefully less dying this time around) and I'm genuinely excited when I think of all of you talented people in this group and of all the possible art and creativity you're going to throw at our challenges.
So without further ado, I end this journal;