Memory Book/Saveron (Sarah Eccles)

My name's Sarah and I'm a 29 year old Medical Scientist living in Australia.

Characters

PCs

• Saveron

PNPCs

• H'Rhaedrol Barr
• Artran and Arlon Berindi
• Douglas FitzJames
• Saavok

Real Life information

I've always loved reading, for as long as I can remember. I used to plow through books considered far too old for me, on one occaision badly shocking my mother when she realised the somewhat risqué nature of a series I had found in the school library and absorbed at the age of 12. I think that it was perhaps from this love of reading that a love of writing formed.

I also loved Sci-Fi, absolutely adoring Star Wars, and of course becoming hooked on Star Trek. I grew up on The Next Generation, which I think aired Down Under a few years after it appeared in the US.

I have Asperger's Syndrome, which is a very mild form of Autism. There's lots of information on the net if you're interested, but the short form of the view from the inside is that while you're smart, it feels like everyone else came into the world with an instruction book and you missed out. It's a very lonely feeling. It's something about the way we're wired, we just don't pick up the social hints and clues that neurotypical people seem to get naturally. Star Trek helped me a lot with this because I could really relate to Data, who has been described as the poster child for Asperger's Syndrome and is a classic example of what it looks like from the outside. From there I watched The Original Series and Voyager (never could get into DS9) and developed a real affinity for Vulcans, who are my all-time favourite Star Trek species.

I discovered Role Playing in a high fantasy style online chat room. The writing was pretty bad but it was an intriguing concept. Later while searching on the net for Star Trek stuff I discovered a Star Trek based PBeM RPG that was just about to launch, called the USS Republic. I initially signed on as the Chief Engineer, but the First Officer dissapeared just before launch, and I scored the spot. The Republic was one of two ships which founded the Alpha Quadrant Sim Group. I was 15.

I must admit that my first character was dreadful. Like many beginning RPers I had made a character who had a lot of me in her, but I also made the other common mistake of trying to attract attention by making my character really wierd. It was only through experience that I learned that the best way for your character to attract attention is to play well. She was a Vulcan/Terran hybrid and a cyborg, and it was perhaps one of my greater challenges in that in the Republic's later years I had to play her down.

I simmed with the USS Republic for several years, eventually coming to command her, before the game eventually folded as we all drifted away on various callings of real life.

I played other games, but I missed the cameraderie and nostalgia of a Star Trek game. So I applied to and was accepted to another group on the AQSG who were at the time called Omega Fleet, but changed setting to Star Trek Dawnspring during my time with them. This was twin sims, the USS Damocles and Starbase Aurora, on the one mailing list, and in the short time I was there I wrote two PCs and a host of PNPCs. Unfortunately again real life attacked and the Dawnspring sims folded.

How you came to UFOP: SB118

After the Dawnspring folded I drifted off to other games, but found myself missing the distinctive flavour of a Star Trek RPG. Many had dissapeared since the advent of Star Trek Online, so I was delighted when on googling around a bit I discovered Starbase 118, applied imediately and was accepted into the Academy. I think I was so excited during that first week that I was nearly sick.

I graduated and was posted on the USS Ronin for it's final mission, and then the crew transferred wholesale to the Duronis II Embassy/USS Thunder base, which suited me perfectly given my twin-sims background with Star Trek Dawnspring.

I have only been with the game for a couple of months, but I have already sprouted three PNPCs and been asked to play the main antagonist in our newest mission, so I'm having a blast.

History

Now talk about your memories of the group. Here are some ideas for what to talk about:

• Where were you first placed? What was it like starting to sim on your vessel?
• What have been your greatest challenges in this group?
• What have been your greatest achievements in this group?
• What do you hope to ultimately accomplish?
• Where do you see this group in five years?
• How do you think this group has contributed to Star Trek's legacy? How has the group contributed to the internet community?