Victory Handbook
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
How to sim in UFOP 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
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.
Need Help Getting into the Story?
Okay, this does seem to come up from time to time- how do I get involved?
Meeting Fleet Requirements
Generally speaking, UFOP requires ten sims a month to be considered a "part time" simmer. Simmers who are more active sim every other day (fifteen a month, a "full time" load) and some sim every day. Some sim more often than that... but that's far from required.
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, find what works for them. But no matter what you decide is best for you, UFOP membership 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.
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 UFOP bounds, we'd like to think 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 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
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.
However, 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 in good standing 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.
Runaway dialogue
Omniscience
MSPNPC
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.
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.
Simming a MSPNPC
MSPNPCs are simmed just like any PNPC, just be sure not to include information that would reveal your identity. These are a great chance to try something new or challenging with a character, since they are designed to be temporary.