Victory Handbook

Note: This article is currently under construction.
This notice was placed here by AlleranTan, so go bug him to finish the page if nothing's happening.

Introduction

First and foremost, welcome to the USS Victory! If you're reading this, it's likely that you've been linked to this handbook by either Commander Andrus Jaxx, his first officer Commander Ash MacKenna or your mentor, whoever that may be.

This page serves as a combined welcome and "HowTo" page for simming as part of the USS Victory crew.

Basic Simming

Simming Format

Tip: Although naval tradition requires officers on-board a ship to be referred to as "sir" regardless of gender, on the Victory we tend to be a little more relaxed. Female officers generally prefer to be called either by their surname, their rank, or in formal situations "ma'am". As usual, this is up to the officer in question- if there's ever any doubt, err on the side of formality. You can't go wrong then.

How to sim in SB118 would have been taught to you in the academy. Rather than go over the specifics of how to make a sim, this section will instead cover how we do things on the Victory, since different ships can have their own "style" of doing things.

Understandably, our style is almost identical to what you would have encountered at the academy. The only thing which might be surprising is that we don't capitalize the last names of crew members who are speaking (which some other crews do).

A (short) basic sim will look something like this:

To: ufop-sb118-victory@yahoo.com
Subject: Ensign James Ricky - Greeting the World
Message Body:

(( Ensign Ricky's Quarters, USS Victory ))

:: Ensign James Ricky woke up with a smile on his face. Today was his first day aboard the USS Victory, and he was excited. ::

Ricky: Hello, world!

:: Jumping out of bed, he got dressed and left his quarters, heading to the bridge. On the way, he saw another crewmember. He smiled, waving his hand. ::

Ricky: Petty Officer T'tala, right? You're Captain Jaxx's assistant aren't you?

T'tala: Response.

Ricky: Great. Hey, I'm new to the ship... what can you tell me about Captain Jaxx?

T'tala: Response.

Tag! TBC...

-----

Ensign James Ricky
Security Officer
USS Victory

What to Sim

Tip: A good rule of thumb is: If your character doesn't have anything to do, ask someone if you can help. Worst case scenario: sim an NPC and cause a problem for yourself!

Your character! :)

Well, that's probably a little less precise than you were probably for, so let's elaborate.

Generally speaking, there's always something interesting and fun going on on the Victory. Sometimes this is a set mission- the ship has been assigned to a task by Starfleet Command- or it's something a lot more freeform, such as a dramatic event onboard the ship. In any event, your character should have something to do to contribute, even if this contribution isn't at the forefront of the action.

How, exactly, your character helps out will vary wildly based on the duty post your character is assigned to on the Victory. This is where your creativity as a writer comes in.

Theme

Tip: The MPAA defines PG-13 as "Some material may be not be appropriate for children under 13". More infomation here.

The Victory prides itself on its serious and realistic themes, its freeform nature and its interesting character driven plots. On the Victory we believe that Star Trek and all good drama in general is about the characters, first and foremost. While we do have missions, plots and external forces at play here, our primary focus is on our characters and displaying strong character development.

We also tend to be slightly more "European" in what constitutes a PG-13 rating. Generally speaking, this means that we tend to prefer a euphemism ("Frak!") over a censored word ("$@#%!"), we have a number of shipboard romances (and as of 2388, a pregnancy!) and we explore these through tastefully written sims and Joint Posts. We also take a relaxed, 24th century view on the personal choices and freedoms of the crew aboard.

Accordingly, this means that we tend to avoid scenes with strong violence or gratuitous bloodshed if at all possible- especially acts committed by Starfleet personnel in good standing. While an occasional sim may contain violence, it is unbecoming for officers in good standing to wound or take lives unnecessarily, gratuitously or with relish. The Victory fires her phasers only when she has to.

There are no active Starfleet Marine Corps characters permitted aboard the USS Victory, although former members are permitted.

Ultimately, it is the simmer's responsibility to ensure that their sims are tasteful. Repeated violations of the PG-13 guidelines may result in a warning or disciplinary action, and looks bad for promotions.

Need Help Getting into the Story?

Tip: Feel free to play your PNPC as often or infrequently as you like, but if they start to eclipse your main character you should consider making them your main character (and your old main a PNPC). You can do this at any time, just ask your CO.

Okay, this does seem to come up from time to time- how do I get involved?

On the Victory, there's a few ways to jump right in. Generally the easiest thing to do is to ask the command staff OOC'ly if there's any thing you can do IC'ly to assist- they're sure to have ideas.

Alternatively, you can introduce a twist of your own. Maybe your character spots something on long-range sensors. Maybe there's a fight in the ship's bar... who knows. The sky's the limit here.

Finally, if you're really stuck or seeking variety, you may play a PNPC. Once you're comfortable with your main character and settled in with the crew, you can create what's known as a Player NPC or PNPC. A PNPC is like a regular NPC, but only you can write for them. In some ways they're like a second character, but they're supposed to play a supporting role. A good PNPC might be:

• A boyfriend or girlfriend for your character.
• Your character's assistant or work partner.
• Your character's family member, such as a parent or child.
• A close friend.

Tip: You can have as many PNPCs as you like, but we recommend no more than four.

However, there's no obligation to tie your character to your PNPC. In fact, one of the good uses of PNPCs is that they allow you to play in any division you wish on the ship, or get involved in plots you would otherwise have to stay out of. With that in mind, you also might want to create a PNPC that:

• In a different department.
• Is a different species or gender to your main character.
• Really dislikes your main character! Nothing like conflict to get the stories flowing.

Meeting Fleet Requirements

Generally speaking, SB118 requires at least ten sims a month to be considered a "part time" writer- any less than that (without reason) may be treated as an LOA. A "full time" writer generally sims every other day (fifteen a month, give or take) and some sim every day. Some sim more often than that... but that's far from required and, as discussed below, is sometimes undesirable.

It's a casual observation that the more someone sims, the lower the quality and the shorter the length of the sim is. So sacrificing quality for quantity is obviously not desirable. However, someone who only sims twice a month- even if those sims are the bees knees- isn't desirable either.

So each writer must find a balance, must find what works for them. But no matter what you decide is best for you, membership in our group requires at least ten sims a month to be considered active- it's just not fair to your fellow simmers to sim any less. Generally speaking, these sims should be evenly spaced out (every few days), rather than a large burst of activity at the end of the month.

Consistently maintaining a sim count higher than the bare minimum (generally 20+ a month) and answering your tags with alacrity looks very good for promotion, keeps your character involved in the plot and allows for a much more fun simming experience for the whole crew.

Additionally, in order to advance in rank beyond Lieutenant you should be showing that you are, in some capacity, involved in the OOC working of the ship and the fleet. This is generally something small and, in most circumstances, doesn't take up much more time than an hour a week. Something like becoming a wiki editor, a forum moderator, writing something for the Fleet News or in some way contributing to the ship and the fleet as a whole. Even Ensigns can contribute, so don't be shy- ask away.

On the Victory, we like to think we're better than most ships- while we can't step outside the bounds of fleet guidelines, we'd hope that every member of our crew puts out a good quality sim every other day on average. That's three-and-a-bit sims a week, or fifteen a month. Again, this level of commitment looks good for promotion!

Common Problems

Not every voyage is smooth sailing, and while simming these are some of the issues you might encounter. Some of them are general, while others are very specific in nature. In any event, they should be treated with caution.

Telepaths

Tip: An intriguing way of interpreting telepathy might be describing a "reading" as one would describe a visual image. If someone is angry, perhaps dark, shadowy flames are surrounding their body- or if someone is joyful, their hair might glow a light gold. Just be sure to point out that these "visions" are separate from visual stimulus to prevent confusion from other writers!

Telepathy is a very powerful sense, most commonly found in Vulcans and Betazoids (and others). As such, caution should be advised when simming telepathy.

The best way to sim telepathy is as just another passive sense. In addition to reading someone's body language, you could also sense basic emotions from them; distress, joy, sadness, pain and anger are examples of 'passive' sensing. You might be able to sense a Romulan assassin creeping up behind you, for instance, or that the Klingon warrior standing before you is just a hologram. The range of passive sensing would be, generally speaking, line of sight. This makes it a balanced, well reasoned sense.

Telepaths such as Betazoids can "talk" privately to those who can hear them. While useful, speaking telepathically to someone while others are in the room is considered very rude- it's the equivalent of pulling out your cell phone to send someone an SMS while they're standing right there, so others can't see what you're saying.

It should be noted that forcefully entering the mind of someone who does not consent to such an action (to read their memories, to alter their thought patterns or to damage their psyche) is a very serious criminal action and can be humiliating for the victim. Starfleet officers and civilians alike are expected to refrain from these actions, except where faced with no other choice.

Of course, nothing comes for free. Telepathy presents its own set of problems and issues; sometimes two people just don't get along, but will act nice to each other to preserve their feelings. How would you feel if you could tell the person you were talking to really didn't like you? Some people distrust telepaths. How will your character deal with this prejudice?

When the ship's in distress, perhaps your character is overwhelmed by the rush of fear and panic into their minds. How do they deal with that? Almost any "power" can be turned into a weakness with enough creative work.

The only hard and fast rule we have is that no character can have telekenetic powers. That is to say, no character may move physical objects with their mind. Years of experience in the simming world have taught us that such a powerful gift solves too many problems too easily, and makes a character far too powerful.

Polishing your sims

Tip: The 'To' E-mail address box should be the last thing you fill out before sending your sim (after proof-reading it). This way, you'll never accidently send out a sim before you're ready!

When writing sims, one should be mindful of the readability of your work. Generally speaking, a properly formatted post will be clean and easy to read, with a correct use of punctuation and grammar. Occasional typos are fine, but frequently making mistakes a spell-checker would pick up can be annoying.

Generally speaking, it's a good idea to always:

• Use a spell-checker. This is the easiest and most effective way to dramatically improve the quality of your sims.
• Read your sims before posting them. If YOU wouldn't read your own work, who will?
• Use whitespace to make your posts more readable.
• Splash in actions, thoughts and the like. Generally speaking, no more than two thirds of your sim should be 'speech'.

One should also be aware of runaway dialog. Unless your character is giving a big speech, you should keep your spoken lines fairly short, giving other players plenty of time to contribute.

Omniscience

While we, the writers, can read any sim in the fleet (and know what's going on all over the ship) your characters do not. Part of realistically playing a character is making sure that the character only reacts to what they know. There's nothing wrong with picking up hints or clues about what's going on all over the ship, but even powerful telepaths should be mindful to keep some surprise in store for their characters.

MSPNPC

Tip: If you're assigned a MSPNPC, don't tell anyone- and try to mix up your writing style and format a little to keep people guessing! The mystery is half the fun!

A Mission Specific Player Non-Playing Character, or MSPNPC, is an NPC assigned to a specific player for the duration of a mission. They are usually antagonists, and are simmed using an anonymous e-mail address.

Any member of the crew can apply for an MSPNPC position, but they are generally only allocated to simmers who have demonstrated both the ability to handle an increased workload and those who have been on at least one mission (so they know the ropes, so to speak).

Anonymous Email Accounts

At the beginning of a mission, the CO takes volunteers for people to play these roles, and assigns them each to an anonymous e-mail accounts. During the mission, no one knows who is playing which MSPNPC, including the other MSPNPCS. We have found that this adds to the suspension of disbelief, removes expectations from the MSPNPCs, and makes the game more enjoyable. At the end of the mission, identities are usually revealed.

Some writers make a game of privately trying to guess the MSPNPC's writers just before the big reveal, so feel free to join in with that, too!

Simming a MSPNPC

MSPNPCs are simmed just like any PNPC. Writers of MSPNPCs are advised to avoid including information that would reveal their identity. Simming an MSPNPC is a great chance to try something new or challenging with a character, since they are designed to be temporary.

It should be noted that although MSPNPCs are usually villains, writers are reminded that ALL SB118 sims must be PG-13. Scenes of extreme cruelty or sadism, even from MSPNPCs, isn't acceptable. If you want your character to commit a serious 'kick the dog' moment, it is best to 'fade to black' or employ vague or poetic wording to do so. If you're ever in doubt that a scene might not be PG-13, it probably isn't... but the PG-13 rating is a very subjective thing. As always, if you're uncertain, ask your CO.

Ranks and Promotions

Tip: Promotions on the Victory are not automatic and must be earned. We like to think we are stricter with our promotions than other vessels- if you are promoted by us, you are one of the best.

Yeah, baby! The privileges of rank.

Every writer in the fleet has both an IC and an OOC rank. In most circumstances, these two are the same. Where writers choose, for example, to sim an enlisted crewman rather than an officer, or to have their character decline a promotion for roleplaying reasons, their OOC rank and their IC rank may differ.

Your characters (and PNPCs) must be equal to your OOC rank or lower. You may sim an enlisted crewman of any rank. You may, temporarily, sim an NPC of any rank up to Captain (such as the Captain of a visiting vessel)- but their presence should be appropriate and their interactions brief. This is not an opportunity to order around the Lieutenant Commanders, no matter how much fun that is could hypothetically be.

To be promoted means that both your commanding officer and the rest of the fleet (you'll be surprised who reads your sims...) have judged you worthy of being recognized for your efforts. In most cases, to meet the criteria for a promotion a minimum amount of time served is required in addition to other criteria.

Ensign

All writers, even those who chose to sim an enlisted crewman, begin their careers as Ensigns. Ensigns are expected to have a basic knowledge of how to sim at SB118, should be meeting the monthly post requirements as set out by the SB118 constitution and should be eagerly contributing to their ship's duty post.

Ensigns of particular talent and flair may be allocated the role of 'department head', but generally they are assigned to a more senior officer in that field.

Lieutenant (Junior Grade)

Lieutenant (Junior Grade), or Lieutenant JG, is the first rank you can earn during your stay at the Victory. To reach the rank of Lieutenant (Junior Grade) a writer should:

• Be in good standing with our community.
• Display a solid grasp of the simming format for SB118.
• Sim a well developed character with a distinct personality.
• Contribute to both ship-wide plots and personal story arcs.
• Possess an aesthetically pleasing and detailed character profile page on the wiki.
• Have completed at least two short missions or one long mission with no prolonged, unexplained leave of absence or serious misconduct issues.

Note: A Lieutenant Junior Grade is generally addressed as simply 'Lieutenant'.

Lieutenant

Lieutenant is the second rank you can earn during your stay at the Victory. To reach the rank of Lieutenant a writer should:

• Be in good standing with our community.
• Display a mastery of the simming format for SB118.
• Significantly help with the direction, plot or exposition of a shipwide plot.
• Maintain a strong OOC presence aboard the ship, including regular contributions to the OOC list and the ship's forums.
• Assist with fleetwide activities such as the Reporter, the Training Academy or the like.
• Be comfortable simming multiple characters (such as an important NPC, one or two PNPCs, or a MSPNPC).
• Be simming consistently and reliably, with a post count well above the minimum.
• Have completed at least four or five missions with no prolonged, unexplained leave of absences.

Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander is the third and final rank you can earn without beginning to cross into the realm of command. A writer who wishes to become a senior staff member and reach the rank of Lieutenant Commander should:

• Be in good standing and well recognized within our community, preferably due to significant involvement in fleet affairs.
• Display an OOC maturity and responsibility which would be appropriate for one so close to command.
• Be ready to place their character out of the spotlight to assist new writers to the fleet.
• Mentor and guide new writers, fostering growth and camaraderie amongst the Victory crew.
• Assist the command staff in plot development and junior staff in their personal story arcs.
• Continue to maintain a strong OOC presence aboard the ship, including regular contributions to the OOC list and the ship's forums.
• Continue simming consistently and reliably, with a post count well above the bare minimum.

Note: A Lieutenant Commander is generally addressed as simply 'Commander'.

The Mentor System

Tip: Volunteering to mentor a new crew member to the ship is a great way to earn a new drinking buddy! *hic*

When new writers come aboard any ship, including the Victory, they are given a mentor. This will generally be a staff member of rank Lieutenant or higher who guides, encourages and helps the new writer with any issues they may be facing.

Mentor Coordination

Mentors are coordinated through, and allocated by, either the Commanding Officer or the First Officer.

Mentor Duties

Generally speaking, a mentor is expected to provide feedback on the first few sims of the new simmer, provide suggestions and encouragement and in all other ways assist the new writer to integrate into the crew. They generally provide an IC and OOC anchor for the new character, although if they are busy IC'ly they may send along a PNPC or NPC. At the very least, they are expected to provide OOC contact and assistance.

New simmers are a precious resource and are afforded every opportunity to ask questions, interact IC'ly and OOC'ly with the crew, and in all other ways have a great time.

Issues with your mentor?

We would hope that this would never happen, but nobody's perfect. If you don't like your mentor, or your mentor isn't responding to your questions in a timely and accurate manner, simply ask your Commanding Officer to have them replaced. A fresh faced, apple cheeked new mentor will be allocated to you immediately- no questions asked.

We would, however, appreciate some feedback as to why you took this course of action.

Outside the Ship

Tip: See a sim you liked? Nominate it for the Top Sim competition!

Outside of simming, there are a huge number of resources for you to let out your creative energies. Involvement in any of the OOC activities is strictly optional below the rank of Lieutenant Commander, but in order to progress up the ranks a certain level of involvement is expected.

Fleet OOC Opportunities

At the time of writing, there are a vast number of Fleet-wide OOC activities you can become involved in!

• Posting in the Duty Posts section on the forums.
• Entering the regular Writing Challenges, held every two months.
• Nominating well written sims by either yourself or your crew for the Top Sim contest.
• Writing articles for the SB118-News blog.
• Joining the SB118 Publicity team! (Ask your CO for more about this!)
• ... and many more!

Extra Writing Avenues

The community hosts a Writing Challenge competition, which is run every two months. The winner from the last round picks the topic for the next round.

The Forums also have a "Character Cafe" section, where writing in any style can be posted- even if it's not Star Trek related!