{"id":3115,"date":"2024-10-15T12:12:39","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T16:12:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.judgefoundry.org\/?p=3115"},"modified":"2024-10-15T20:44:23","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T00:44:23","slug":"get-ready-for-maintenance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.judgefoundry.org\/fr\/articles\/get-ready-for-maintenance\/","title":{"rendered":"Get Ready For Maintenance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Judging roles in any game count for maintenance for your Judge Foundry level! Ok, sorry to just blurt that out, but it\u2019s something we\u2019ve been hearing members asking about and we wanted to address it right up top. More about this later. Now, back to your regularly scheduled article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judge Foundry members have until March 31st to complete their maintenance requirements. This will be the first wave of maintenance for JF. That\u2019s a big deal! Here\u2019s what you need to know about it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Maddie
Maddie calls a draft at Nationals in 2023. Photo \u00a9 John Brian McCarthy<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Why do Maintenance?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This leads us to a deeper question \u2014 why have levels at all? Judge Foundry\u2019s first quality is Quality, and levels help us get there. Judge levels are useful for showing someone has been certified to have a minimum level of knowledge. If I know someone is a Level One Judge, I know they can run a prerelease; if they\u2019re a Level Two Judge I know I can recommend them to a store to run an upcoming RCQ; and if they\u2019re a Level Four Judge, they can HJ a 200 player event. At the LGS, judge levels help players get the right rulings, and at a large event, judge levels ensure your coworkers know what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But just because someone once knew how to do something doesn\u2019t mean they always will. Maintenance ensures that judge\u2019s levels are still accurate measures of their skills. Every year sees myriad updates in both rules and policy, and tournament organizers need to know the judges they\u2019re hiring haven\u2019t been left behind. If an L2 hasn\u2019t judged in five years, they\u2019re probably a little behind on policy, and won\u2019t be giving correct rulings anymore. An L5 who hasn\u2019t judged in a few years is probably out of date on the best practices for running end of round, divvying up team assignments on a 500+ player event, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many other professional certifications, like law, medicine, and education, have continuing education requirements to stay certified, because their fields are constantly changing. Judging is quite similar. Maintenance is essential for ensuring our levels are still up to date and accurate, and that no members get to coast on laurels earned long ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You Said Any Game?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s right! As mentioned above, judging most tabletop TCGs counts for maintenance and to meet advancement requirements. This isn\u2019t a new policy or a big change in philosophy on Judge Foundry\u2019s side but rather a clarification, a re-publicizing. This has been the plan from inception, but we got enough questions about it recently that we realized it hadn\u2019t quite seeped into public knowledge, so we\u2019re highlighting it here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judge Foundry\u2019s legal status as a 501c6 makes our charter to support tabletop tournament officials – not just those who judge for one particular publisher. This is especially relevant at a time when many judges, including those in Judge Foundry\u2019s leadership, have branched out into more games as a way of broadening their skill set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing we learned in recent years, when more TCGs began hosting large tournaments and hiring expert judges who may not have been as familiar with those games, is that there\u2019s a lot of fungibility in judging. While a judge will obviously need to learn new rules, skills like policy philosophy, logistics, investigations, leadership, and player experience are all portable. Indeed, many judges have reported that working new games has made them better at their \u201chome game\u201d because it\u2019s forced them to better understand the philosophical underpinnings of choices that were made – this is part of what led us to add \u201cLogistics Philosophy\u201d to the set of qualities on which judges are evaluated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also wanted to avoid creating painful choices for judges as maintenance loomed. When tournament organizers post their applications and ask what certifications judges hold, we want our members to be as broadly hirable as possible, not to have to say \u201cI really need you to put me on Magic because I need one more large Magic event this year,\u201d when both the judge and the TO might be better served by that judge working Star Wars. We\u2019ll also note that we\u2019re not the only ones adopting this rule – the requirements for some advanced roles in Flesh and Blood\u2019s judge program allow for experience with analogous games, while still requiring Flesh and Blood rules and policy knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We reached this conclusion, in part, because we\u2019ve seen personally how beneficial it is to cross-train. Brook recently worked as a Deputy Head Judge for two Disney Lorcana Challenges, John Brian is a Tier 3\/Tier 4 Head Judge in Flesh and Blood and recently served as Support Judge for Calling Sydney, Joe is a Flesh and Blood judge and tournament organizer, and Director Emerita Amanda will be the Head Judge of Flesh and Blood Worlds later this month.  Many other senior judges have also jumped into other games and are finding it helpful. (Note that none of the judges mentioned here will need their experience with other games in order to pass their maintenance requirements for this year.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Steven
Steven and Brandon brief judges at Calling Minneapolis in 2023. Photo \u00a9 John Brian McCarthy<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What Happens if you don’t Maintain?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Judges who do not meet the maintenance requirements will have their level lowered. We know that losing something that was earned can be a tough pill to swallow, but if we want judges to get opportunities thanks to their levels, the levels have to mean something. That means judges can\u2019t be allowed to coast after earning a level, and that means maintenance has to have some teeth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note that judges who advanced between October 1st and March 31st are exempted from maintenance requirements for that member year. If you just achieved a new level, you\u2019re probably still a good fit for it, and we didn\u2019t want to discourage judges from advancing in the Spring for fear that they\u2019d get bumped right back down again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We expect that maintenance will spur some judges to reevaluate their relationship with judging from time to time, and that\u2019s good and healthy. Life changes. Sometimes we get new jobs, move across the country, have a kid, or otherwise have a big change, and it can be important to reevaluate the things we took for granted. Changing your relationship with judging doesn\u2019t negate any of the good work you\u2019ve done in the past, it doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t help mentor other judges, and it doesn\u2019t mean you aren\u2019t a part of the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If life changes again and you\u2019re ready to put judging back on the front burner, we\u2019ll be here for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Else is There to Know?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n