Multispecies Initiative
| Multispecies Initiative |
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| USS Darwin-A | ||
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 INACTIVE STATUS | ||
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What is the USS Darwin's Multispecies Initiative?
The USS Darwin-A is going to have the most biologically varied and culturally diverse crew in Starfleet history. This will be the first time some of these species take part in space exploration onboard a Federation starship. We will have a much broader range of perspectives, ideologies, and cultures than any other ship in the fleet to draw upon. This will be invaluable for medical and scientific research, psychological and sociological development, innovation, and invention.
What this means OOC:
This is a chance for players to explore minor species, which are largely undeveloped and aren't largely popular as PC choices. Species such as Pahkwa-thanh, Elaysian or Phylosian. Some, such as Oxygene might need special breathing equipment to be able to work in the atmosphere of a Standard Federation vessel, others like Selkie might need special adjustments made to their living quarters.
Participants can pick up a character, explore a particular aspect of their chosen species for a few months and then try something else if desired. There is no pressure to fully develop a species and this is just to add a whole new, fun aspect to the Darwin. It seems fitting for a ship named after the father of evolution to be a haven for a multitude of species.
This is a great thing for the ship and a better thing for the fleet as we work towards fleshing out various species over time.
Who can participate, and how?
The competition is open to all players who sim full time aboard the USS Darwin (whether they have a PC, 2PC or are a guest) as long as they achieved the rank of Lieutenant JG (OOC) or higher.
Competition General Guidelines:
- Characters created for involvement in the competition will be referred to as MI:PNPCs and logged on a seperate roster to regular PNPCs.
- If a player has a PNPC who is a member of a minor species and wants to use it for the competition, this might be permissable (contact the Commanding Officer). If permitted the PNPC will become a MI:PNPC for the duration they are involved in the competition and be logged in the appropriate roster. If the PNPCs involvement in the competition ends, they will be returned to PNPC status and moved to the appropriate roster.
- Only one MI:PNPC per player at any given time.
- Only one character can be created for any particular species at one time and it is allotted on a first come first serve basis.
- To avoid having too many characters, which may potentialy outrank current PCs the number of MI:PNPCs allowed as commissioned officers will be limited and we encourage players to explore enlisted opportunities.
- Effort will be made to ensure the departments remain balanced so bear this in mind when selecting potential departments for your character.
- Participants will be writing for a minor species for a period of at least 2 months with a view to fleshing out their chosen species in some fashion.
- Participants must continue to ensure the main focus is on their PC character:- Writing for an extra character should not detract from that, the timely response to tags or take away opportunities for PCs.
- Participants will write up a short species update for the wiki to reflect what has been fleshed out. All updates to species need to be approved by the SDC to ensure they are reasonable and in keeping with the species.
How to join in:
- If a player is interested, meets the participation guidelines and wants to join in select and submit the following to Captain Renos:
- A species not already taken and listed on the MI:PNPC roster.
- A first and second choice for department.
- A basic bio (along with any ideas you might have for the species).
- If accepted you will be notified and your character will be added to the roster.
- If for any reason you are not accepted, the reasons for it will be explained as well as guidance about what needs to be done to allow your participation.
- Once you have a character you can sim it for the duration of one round, with an option of keeping it on for another round when the roster is reviewed between rounds, depending on demand.
To be eligible for consideration when judging begins at the end of the round you must
- Complete the entry form, which asks participants to provide their MI:PNPC name and species as well as a link to the bio page and the proposed species update.
What do participants get out of it?
Apart from the sheer joy of exploring a lesser known species, trying new things and helping to flesh them out in a way the rest of the fleet can use and enjoy there are a few perks for each round's winner!
- Having your accomplishments celebrated on the OOC list, joint ship chats, ship forums.
- Being interviewed about your fabulous work for the News Team!
- Receiving a special forum badge to use as part of your forum signature. It can also be displayed on your wiki user page if you so desire.
- Invited to help judge the following round of the competition.
How is the competition judged?
Bi-monthly, a small panel of judges will look at those who have simmed at least twice for characters connected to the competition and submitted a wiki update, which has been approved by the SDC. Three main factors come into play for judging:
- Quality of sims. Participants must have submitted during the round at least 2 sims which in some way flesh out the species the player is representing. Descriptive, well thought out and fleshed out sims with few spelling and grammar mistakes will do better than those riddled with mistakes.
- Submitting an update for the wiki. Since one of the goals of the initiative is to help flesh out lesser known species submitting a suitable update that can be used on the wiki is vital. It needn’t be a lot of work though and even a paragraph or two to explain what you want to see added to the species profile would be enough.
- Wiki bio page for your character. The bio doesn’t have to be as detailed or in-depth as one made for a PC. Having a tidy wiki page, with the essential details of your character, basic details of what you have fleshed out and perhaps some links to sims where you’ve done work expanding the species will be looked upon favorably.
Who has won the competition?
Entries for the March/April round are now being accepted.
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