Posted by Steve Johnson (President) in Alt Ship Charter Proposal

Posted by Vice Admiral Daniel Lerner (Personnel Director, EGO) in Alt Ship Charter Proposal
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I humbly present the Charter for USS Sentinel:

The Governor-class USS Sentinel, NCC-1794, is hereby commissioned in the (#) Fleet as a TOS Show-era Alternate RPG Area.

The USS Sentinel will be structured the same as a Standard Ship and shall be commanded by a CO and XO who are appointed the same way as on a Standard Ship and a GM who is appointed the same way as a Standard Ship. However, as an Original Series Era ship the Sentinel’s missions are expected to be predominantly (but not limited to) TOS in nature and biased toward Era specific issues and plotlines, and its crew staffing is expected to be realistic to the series timeline crew requirements. The Sentinel’s time frame (The TOS Era is specified as 2250 - 2270) must be honored with respect to technology, species, and species present in Starfleet at the time, etc. As is appropriate to the Era, the XO shall concurrently hold a Department Head position.

CO and XO positions on the Sentinel will count fully towards any limits in place. The Sentinel will not accept new members to STF; it is a Second Character Only ship.

The Sentinel will be reviewed in 90 days by the President, Fleet Commander, and CO to determine if the Sentinel has been successful in its mission. The President shall have a final ruling in this matter. The Sentinel will be reviewed based on the following criteria:

-The Sentinel must maintain an active and healthy role-playing environment.

-The Sentinel must continue to function as a TOS Show Era ship.

If the Sentinel is found to be successful in maintaining its environment, it will be considered permanent. It may be decommissioned at a later date should it be found to be irreparably in violation of any points of this charter.

(though I can’t take all the credit for writing it, I had a lot of help.)

-Dave Eads

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[Sorry for snipping out everyone’s “let’s do this” comments; I wanted to focus a bit on the proposed Charter.]

Obviously, we’ll have to start with a Governor-class starship, as that is the only approved TOS-era spec we have in STF at the moment. That being said, the Governor is a very combat-specific ship class, focusing on patrolling the neutral zones, transporting combat troops, etc. Which isn’t quite what most people imagine playing a TOS-era ship, a series that is more focused on exploration. Are there any thoughts to working on a new class-spec in the near-future?

The Charter says: “However, as an Original Series Era ship the Sentinel’s missions are expected to be predominantly (but not limited to) TOS in nature and biased toward Era specific issues and plotlines, and its crew staffing is expected to be realistic to the series timeline crew requirements.”. I’ve put in bold the part I have a question regarding. Why wouldn’t the sims all be TOS in nature? Maybe a preceding question I should probably ask: what does “TOS in nature” actually mean?

Finally, it might be helpful to have some language about including Star Trek canon from the TOS era that does not necessarily appear in TOS. I’m specifically thinking of the different technology seen in Star Trek Discovery (brought on because of better special effects in the 21st century than the 1960s). Best to settle those disputes in the charter before they appear on the ship mid-sim.

Daniel

Okay, I’m gonna play devil’s advocate here. Why not just start this ship up in X-Fleet? Isn’t the purpose of X-Fleet to test out alt-rpg ideas, and then if they work out, move them into the main fleet?

I know this will almost definitely lead to us needing a future discussion the purpose of X-Fleet, so please keep the discussion focused on this one particular ship.

Thank you,
Steve

Mainly because that’s not the purpose of X-Fleet :P

Waaaaa yback when Joe led the X-Fleet review, one of things that came out of that work was that the role of X-Fleet was not a process of testing out potential alt-RPGs for the club. It can never really be that because we give X-Fleet zero resources and support - odds are, most x-fleet ships will eventually disappear.

X-Fleet is, for lack of a better phrase, STF’s “relief-valve”. It’s a place where a few members can get together and play around with an idea that doesn’t really fit with the club’s usual RPG and isn’t really what the club needs at any given time. From a Klingon ship, to a prison transport ship, to an all-Andorian ship, to a time-travelling ship, to a live-action IRC ship. Some other X-Fleet ideas that have floated around have included a ‘West Wing’-style political RPG area based around the Federation’s President and other senior leadership people. There are no plans for these to ever “graduate” to alt-RPGs. If they do, that’s just happy happenstance. But it’s really a place for members just to play around with their own RPG area with no support, etc. from the club.

Alt-RPGs on the other hand, play a real role in the success of the club. They serve a need, it’s what the membership wants, and it’s a place we want to use resources. A review period allows us to make sure it’s actually working once implemented. That review period can be extended.

By “resources”, I mean GM primarily, followed by CO/XO, senior staff, locations for second characters, tech support, ship specs, FComm support, etc.

If the President decides this is not a useful use of club resources, then it would make sense to go to the X-Fleet. But if the President thinks it is something the club needs and wants, then the X-Fleet would be a bad idea.

Hope that helps answer the question.

Daniel