Memory Book/Jackford R.M.B. Kolk (James T. Kolk)
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Real Life information
I am a stay-at-home dad raising my son while my wife, a Family Physician, is out in the world healing people. I'm also working slowly on a website/writing project, Soul Trek: TNG.
How you came to UFOP: SB118
The reason I originally stumbled onto this group was because I had been growing steadily more and more disappointed with the limited depth of the Star Trek universe experienced in all the Star Trek video games I had been playing over the years. They all gave me tastes of various aspects of the experience I imagined for years when watching the shows, but none of them ever allowed me to feel like I was really living the life of a Starfleet Officer when I played it. So, one day I started searching the internet for a new game, hoping to find something that would give me a fuller Star Trek experience.
Initially, I stumbled onto a similar group and applied, but they didn't respond to my application for approximately 2 months. In the first week of that time, I browsed their site more and was disappointed to find over half of their ships being commanded by Lt. Commanders. That seemed woefully unrealistic given the fact that every ship in the shows and movies was commanded by a full Captain. Soon I found this group through a wikipedia search for Star Trek RPGs, which said this was one of (if not the) oldest and most respected groups on the web. I really liked the fact that UFoP has a training program for every single new player, and more than that, a constitution that says ships must ordinarily be commanded by a full Captain or, if necessary, by a full Commander, but then only for a limited number of months. But the biggest factor that hooked me was the promptness of response. I applied and the very same day received an e-mail from a trainer. After only a week and a half, which was spent on an extremely enjoyable training mission, I had been placed on a ship and have absolutely loved it ever since. When I finally did hear from the other group about a month and a half after that, I turned them down because I had already found the place for me.
Once I was in the group, a major reason I began to enjoy playing was because it allowed me to get back in the habit of writing consistently. Not only that, but it allowed me to practice writing from multiple points of view, to explore character types and situations of any and every kind without restriction, to boldly go where... (Oh. Sorry. Couldn't resist.) It has really helped me to continually develop my writing ability.
History
- When did you join?
I joined the UFoP in early February of 2007.
- Where were you first placed? What was it like starting to sim on your vessel?
I was first placed on the USS Ronin as an Engineer, but the ship was in the midst of a battle with some Grendellai and a few pirates, so I waited for it on Deep Space 17 and ended up going through nearly my entire first mission without setting foot on my ship. I had a lot of fun exploring my character's excitement and anticipation (and later boredom) at waiting to join the crew as well as developing his personality while waiting--not to mention having a great NPC made by Danny Wilde to joke around with while I waited for my ship to come in. It was a great time.
- What have been your greatest challenges in this group?
Learning to temper my own ambition with an earnest desire to promote the welfare of those with whom I served. Or, to put it as Spock would, learning that the good of the many outweighs the good of the few, or the one.
- What have been your greatest achievements in this group?
Although my real life took me out of the game for now, I'm very proud to say that I earned the honor of a promotion to the level of full Commander, and I'm glad to be back in the ranks again.