Difference between revisions of "Greater Jedi Order"

Revision as of 08:35, 4 September 2008

Greater Jedi Order banner (2000-2001)

The Greater Jedi Order, commonly referred to as the GJO, was a roleplaying group that served as the primary gathering point for Jedi roleplayers on SW-Fans.Net from 1999 until 2005, at one point comprising of almost half of the active roleplaying population.

Following the roleplaying reset in 2005, the group was reborn as The Jedi Enclave.

History

Origins

The Greater Jedi Order had it's beginnings in June 1999, when a group of posters led by sirdizzy created a group titled The Jedi Council in opposition to a Sith group (The Sith Council founded by member Itala Marzullo) that had been created a couple of days earlier. At the time, the message board (then still titled Star Wars vs. Titanic) was primarily focused on boxoffice discussion and the 2 groups form of 'roleplaying' at the time consisted mainly of quick, real-time battles that lasted no ore than a couple of hours, with a ranking system (Padawan, Knight and Master) based upon number of viewings of Episode I in cinemas.

Breakup

When a large body of members broke away from the message board in July 1999 to form CoruscantCity.Net the Jedi group moved with them. However, a small group of posters decided to remain at the old board (now named SW-Fans.Net). It was these posters who decided to reestablish a new Jedi group, based upon the original, but to have it continue to operate on the original board. This group was also titled The Jedi Council.

Despite initially following the original guidelines set out by the original group the new Jedi began to alter and change their guidelines to suit their own needs over the next month or so. Things such as the ranking system based on number of viewings were abolished in favour of a ranking system based on the amount of posts one did.

As time progressed and more changes were being carried out the group finally decided to fully reinvent itself, renaming itself The Jedi Order in late August 1999. More changes followed soon after, including the revised ranking system based on posts which was also abolished and instead decided on an individual basis per roleplayer based upon quality of posting and length of time served to the group.

Reunification

As more time progressed the former animosity between CoruscantCity.Net and SW-Fans.Net quickly diminished, and by September 1999 roleplayers from both boards were beginning to post and contribute at each board. At first the 2 Jedi groups remained separated, claiming to be united in their cause yet still aligned with their respective board, however it didn't take long before members from both groups proposed an idea to merge the 2 Jedi groups into a single entity. Despite this though other members still preferred to maintain each group's individuality and retain the traditional setup of each board having its own Jedi group. As a result the proposal was initially dropped and the 2 groups remained apart but agreed to work with each other, resulting in the formation of The Jedi Alliance in October 1999.

At first the 2 Jedi groups continued to treat each other as separate entities however as time progressed its members began to see each other more and more as members of a single group. As a result of this thinking both groups decided to revisit the merger proposal and in November 1999 the Jedi formally merged. The newly unified group was christened the Greater Jedi Order.

The group continued to roleplay on both CoruscantCity.Net and SW-Fans.Net for a number of months following the merge, however as time went on the group would come to make SW-Fans.Net their permanent roleplaying home.

Forum Structure

After the merge of the 2 Jedi groups, the roleplayers used an old ezboard message board that had been used by the CoruscantCity.Net Jedi as their base of operations. The structure of the message board expanded and underwent changes through the years. Major forums included:

• Temple Avalon - a private forum that served as the main Jedi gathering point to discuss group issues.
• Jedi Academy - a training forum for Jedi Padawans.
• Jedi Biographies - a forum where roleplayers can post information regarding their Jedi characters.
• Master Yoghurt's Bar & Grill - a forum for general chit-chat as well as roleplaying within the confines of the 'bar'. It was a neutral place for Jedi, Sith, smugglers, or people just looking for a place to come in out of the rain to gather. Named after Master Yoghurt, a long serving Jedi roleplayer.

The group moved to another location on ezboard in 2001 following a disagreement with the original board's senior administrator. The group finally relocated to SW-Fans.Net directly in June 2002.

Roleplaying Reset

In May 2005, prior to the release of Episode III, the board membership decided to reset the main roleplaying timeline. The reset forced some roleplaying groups to alter themselves to fit in with the new timeline, including the Greater Jedi Order which was recreated as a loose gathering of Jedi that had hidden from the Empire. The group was renamed The Jedi Enclave and the group's forums were also subsequently retitled.

External Links

• Greater Jedi Order Homepage - original homepage (1999-2001)
  
• Greater Jedi Order ezboard - original ezboard message board (1999-2001)
  
• Greater Jedi Order on SW-Fans.Net - message board on SW-Fans.Net (2002-2005)