Constitution Officer's Manual/What to Sim
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Easy answer: Your character! :)
Here’s the more elaborate answer!
When joining a new ship and a new crew it can be difficult to get into the plot, especially if you join in the middle of a mission. But of course, we want everyone to interact with each other and to form a bond.
So here are a couple of tips for you on how to get into the action!
If your character doesn’t have something to do, ask someone if you can help. We often see people talk in Discord about possibilities on what they can do together. You can also email the player instead if you want.
There's always something interesting and fun going on. Sometimes this is a mission other times it is a shore leave. In any event, your character should have something to do to contribute, even if this contribution isn't at the forefront of the action. If you have an idea and are not sure if it would work, feel free to ask anyone on the command staff.
How, exactly, your character helps out will vary wildly based on the duty post your character is assigned to during a mission and your own ideas for Character Developments and the relationships to other characters during shore leave. This is where your creativity as a writer comes in. It is always a good idea to get others involved in the story, so leaving tags for other players is always looked on with a positive light.
That doesn't mean you can't write posts that are based solely around your own character! Depth and character development are also important. Just make sure that you aren't always writing alone. Not only does this make it difficult for other players to tag you, but it also creates a situation where others might not want to involve you because they might think you are busy elsewhere.
If your character is busy, you are waiting for tags but want to write, you can write a backsim. That is a sim playing in the past of the current plot. That can be in-game ‘last week’ or years ago. It can add interesting plot points and key elements to your character’s past. We really enjoy a good backstory.
If all the Player Characters are busy or don’t work with an idea you have, take a look at the PNPC list, there may be someone in that group of people more suitable for the plot.
You can also get inspired to plots by reading biographies of other characters, be it PC or PNPC. Often times little interesting tidbits from their bios have kicked off interesting plots. Give it a try.
Even if your character is not directly involved in an ongoing plot, you as the writer may be inspired by the writing of others. So if that happens and you get an idea, maybe even want to get involved in any capacity in said plot contact the players already involved and ask if that’s okay.
PG 13
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 we explore these through tastefully written sims and Joint Posts. You can depict relationships but we use a method called ‘Fade Black’ a whole lot to keep things PG. We also take a relaxed, 24th-century view on the personal choices and freedoms of the crew aboard. Tip: The MPAA defines PG-13 as "Some material may not be appropriate for children under 13". More information here.
Scenes with violence or bloodshed
This means that we tend to avoid scenes with strong violence or gratuitous bloodshed if possible. Unless it is necessary refrain from including scenes like that in detail. If you decide to act as an assailant in a sim, please be aware that you need:
- a warning for other players at the beginning of your sim as it is a problematic and troublesome topic that people should have the right to skip over. That also means, to please not put it into a sim that vital for everyone to read (like a mission-plot that is needed to understand the story etc) because those who do not want to read assault can skip it without losing necessary details.
- consent of all involved players (if the other character is not yours, please mention that you got consent, communicate!)
- and the assaulting character WILL suffer consequences. So make sure that this is really what your character would do, they won't get away with it.
These rules are here for your protection and to make sure that everyone can have fun and doesn't have to read troublesome details. Basically: be mindful of others. We are here to have fun together. You can still mention something in your backstory, give your character troublesome pasts or even presents and futures and the like, we are not blocking that. Just don't go into too many details or give us a warning as mentioned above.
Realism
This ties in with the realism of things that we enjoy on the Conny. While we do explore plot lines and missions that involve Trek and other fantasy-related topics, we try to make things as realistic as possible. For example, children should not be on the bridge, no character should have too many 'powers', and we all pride ourselves with being able to realistically react to events such as death, injury, and animosity. We also believe in the motto of "IC consequences for IC actions." So if your character does something against the rules, it won't be broomed under the rug or ignored. 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. If you have questions, or you simply wonder if a sim is pushing things too far, either tone it down or contact a member of the command staff. They can clear a scene for you and make sure that you are adhering to the PG-13 guidelines.