Posted by Vice Admiral Steve Johnson (Personnel Director) in FCOMM proposal: Fleet bases/stations

Posted by Captain Brian Richards (Fleet Commander, Meridian Fleet) in FCOMM proposal: Fleet bases/stations

Posted by Vice Admiral Sarah Hemenway (CMM) in FCOMM proposal: Fleet bases/stations
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Historically, we have sometimes had ‘unofficial’ role-playing taking place on our fleet bases and stations. Officially, though, it’s not actually recognized in the club, leading sometimes to awkward questions of whether it is allowed, who is responsible, what type of role-playing, etc.

Right now, our bylaws recognize two types of role-playing areas: (1) RPGs that have a CO administrator, who in turn is accountable to the FComm/ACmdt, and in turn accountable to the President (these ships including regular main fleet ships, alt-RPGs, and Academy ships) and (2) X-Fleet ships that are overseen by SOX, who is accountable to the President.

Regarding fleet bases and stations, the only language in our bylaws is found in FCOMM:

OOC Ships

An OOC Ship is a starship, starbase, or other similar division that is present in a Fleet or an Executive Department but not staffed by a crew or the site of an actual RPG. OOC Ships are intended for Out of Character interaction between STF members. OOC Ships are established managed at the discretion of the Fleet Commander or Department Director.

Non-Crewed Ships

A Non-Crewed Ship is a Starship or Starbase that is considered part of a Fleet for RPG purposes but is not actively commissioned nor staffed by Player Characters. Non-Crewed ships assigned to a Fleet are available for use by GMs for RPG purposes, and if destroyed are recycled.

It’s not clear to me if/how a non-crewed ship can be used for our purposes in this discussion.

I am proposing a change to the OOC Ships section to allow for some limited role-playing in the following way (I’ll come up with actual bylaw wording once I know how the club feels about this):

• It is the FComm’s discretion whether role-playing is allowed on the fleet base or ship.
• If role-playing is allowed, the FComm is responsible for supervising the role-playing and ensuring it complies with STF policies and terms of service.
• The only rostered characters would be the FComm and AFComm. Otherwise,role-playing is limited to active characters already on ships in the fleet. The FComm has discretion to allow temporary role-playing by a new character
• While the base or station may be referenced by a GM in a ship sim, simming itself does not take place on the base/station. The purpose of role-playing on these stations and bases is to allow additional role-playing interactions by current characters in the fleet.
• FComms may choose to use a starbase or equivalent class approved by the Engineering Department for role-playing, but are not required to.
The FComm may stop all role-playing on the base or station without notice and without having to provide a reason. There is no expectation on the FComm to allow role-playing on the base or station, and an FComm should not allow it to distract or overtake the administrative responsibilities and duties of an FComm

Daniel

As we just discussed, I don’t see why this is necessary because I don’t read the current language as preventing “limited roleplaying on OOC ships.” The words “OOC Ships are intended for Out of Character interaction between STF members” does not mean that In Character interaction between STF members is expressly forbidden. The very next sentence also says that Fleet Commanders manage them, so they can essentially do whatever they want with them, including these activities. So I don’t see the point.

If the point is that people are confused about whether or not these things can be done if the Fleet Commander wants to allow it, then I’d suggest perhaps it would be better to add a single sentence like “In Character interactions can be allowed by the Fleet Commander at their discretion” or something simple, rather than to create an entirely new regulatory scheme to solve a non-problem (black market IC roleplaying on OOC ships?).

Joe

I’m gonna agree with Joe on this one. It’s not forbidden, so I think something added, like the sentence he proposed, would suffice.
No point in making things more complicated.

But yes, I’d like to see permission for station RP to be clearly available.

Meli the Mobstress

I agree with Joe that the current language does not forbid this use of them. I think that officially condoning the use can create more problems than it solves since it will create questions regarding ranks, activity, etc.

• Sarah, CMM

I think the problem raised by Sarah is a valid one, however if we modify Joe’s proposed addition to say something similar to “In Character interactions can be allowed by the Fleet Commander at their discretion. Given the nature of the OOC environment any actions or activities taken onboard the OOC area will not be considered valid for STF rank progression. Activities in the OOC environment are for enrichment and entertainment purposes only.” This would allow say, Meridian Station, to hold an award ceremony or a cross ship mingle where people could participate IC however the actions taken onboard the station would not be considered as anything more than a side sim at most for official club purposes.

Brian

So.... if during a celebration “simm” you promote a bunch of people in the OOC environment, wouldn’t you then have to go back to your ship and do it all over again?

I can see adding the last sentence, “Activities in an OOC environment are for enrichment and entertainment purposes only.” But I think most of this should be left up to the FComm’s discretion.

Steve

I see what you mean Steve, I was more thinking those celebrations would be a mini STF awards sort of thing as opposed to a character promotion. But you do make a point of it being the FComm’s discretion.

Brian