FIVE Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Just wanted to remind everyone about the rules with the sandtrooper patrols and merchandising. First off, remember that the patrols are SANDTROOPER patrols, they ARE NOT "MEPD" patrols. That distinction is very important! As far as merchandising this is a very strict rule... we can not have anything that associates a patrol to the 501st or MEPD as though it were an "official" (i.e. sanctioned) entity. That means no 501st / MEPD logos, wording as such, etc. I wanted to post something that Skaught (the 501st merchandising guy) said in our original discussions long before patrols were a thing here... The policy has long been that unofficial groups should not use 501st names, logos or other elements that link to the Legion. Unofficial groups have been formed by members for a long time. We have the South Florida TIE Pilots down here, for example. Just some members who shared the same costume who wanted to have some fun by making a patch. They didn't coordinate this with the JRS Detachment, nor was there really any need to. No problems, and it was all for fun. I don't believe its possible for an official group to organize unofficial subgroups, though. The very nature of this structure would render the unofficial groups official, since they'd be following rules and structures set forth by the detachment to be recognized. Just saying it's unofficial doesn't make it so, if everything else meets the definition of an official group. This isn't about squashing anyone's fun. It's that things are more complicated then people would like them to be. The idea for squads was very simple in the beginning, too. They were about having fun and giving some local troops a name & logo to rally under. Same idea as a patrol. But as things go, abuse quickly followed as people used squads to disrupt garrison life, cause problems for command staff and other unharmonious activity. Whenever you form a group, someone will want to take advantage of it for their own selfish purposes. If some Sandtroopers want to form a patrol in their home area, let them organize it on their own and not get a detachment involved in the organizing. There is no less "fun" this way and we can continue without having to start dealing with yet more group squabbles. And squabbles there will certainly be, unfortunately. Scott Remember... the main objective in forming patrols was (and I hope still is) to instill a sense of esprit de crop for sandtroopers, as it's been [at times] a neglected costume in the Legion. They are not an official part of the MEPD in any way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FIVE Posted August 26, 2011 Author Share Posted August 26, 2011 As an example... This logo, while fine to use on the site and for fun, could not be made into merchandise (t-shirts, etc.) because it contains the Cloud City Garrison logo as part of the design... This logo, however, is fine to use for whatever anyone wants to use it for. It has the "Imperial Cog" but that in itself is not a 501st related image so it's okay to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FIVE Posted August 26, 2011 Author Share Posted August 26, 2011 Another example of merchandise done correctly. http://forum.mepd.net/index.php?showtopic=9103 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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