Training Tutorial 2
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Tutorial 2: Writing cooperativelyREAD EVERYTHINGIt's important that you read all the sims in the Academy and on your future ship, regardless of whether they're being written by people on the same team as you. Major plot points can develop in a different scene, and they should be reflected in everyone's sims. For example, if a team working together on the bridge simmed the ship going to red alert, that's an event which would affect the entire ship and should be acknowledged in sims of everyone aboard. Each simmer contributes something unique to the plot, and it's out of mutual respect and appreciation for each other we take the time to read what our fellow crew members write. Imagine how disappointed you would if you'd poured time and effort to carefully craft a sim and then discovered some people have skipped it! WHEN TO REPLYWe don’t operate in a “round robin” style in the Academy or the fleet; which is to say there is no set turn order between writers, and we don’t ask you to wait for everyone else to sim before moving on. That said, we want to give everyone a fair chance to respond and avoid one person dominating a scene by flooding it with their sims. To achieve this, we ask that you give at least 24-36 hours between your replies to allow other writers a chance to respond. On most ships, you should probably sim again after 48 hours, even if everyone else in the scene hasn’t replied. To help keep the plot moving, you should definitely sim again if it reaches 72 hours since you last simmed. SPEAKING FOR OTHERSEach simmer in training, and on your future ship, has thought-out their character, and has an idea of how their character behaves, speaks, and thinks. We learn about other characters by reading the sims of other writers. In our group, we ask that everyone respect the boundaries of those characters, and never speak for them. For example, if you were to speak for another member of your crew, let’s call him Joe Bloggs, you might have him say something like this: CREWMAN: Cadet Bloggs, do you fancy a drink of wine? It's from my parents’ vineyards in France. BLOGGS: Sure thing, that sounds swell, buddy! But consider this: is that really how Joe Bloggs speaks? And do you know, for sure, that Joe likes wine? Perhaps he doesn't call his crewmates "buddy," and perhaps he hates wine! It’s hard to tell how another character would react to a situation, and part of the fun of simming is watching how other players create unique and surprising responses for their characters. Because of that, it’s best to leave each player the room to creatively respond to any situation. USING OTHER PLAYERS' CHARACTERSThe information above is generally only valid for conversations. But let’s consider another situation where you and two other crewmembers have been ordered to take a shuttle and complete a mission. Two of you arrive in the shuttlebay and are waiting for the third person, who doesn’t sim his arrival in the shuttlebay. This is obviously inconvenient for you and the other simmer who are already there. You can move the plot forward a little by including the character who hasn’t arrived, but not speaking for him. For example: ((Shuttlebay 1, USS Centris)) Bloggs and Jones had been waiting for a couple of minutes, when the third officer appeared. All three officers then boarded the shuttle and launched as they had been ordered. As you can see, you haven't spoken for the third officer -- just filled-in something they should have done anyway. But before you take action to put another player in a spot they haven’t simmed their character, you should always give them a chance to do it themselves. Perhaps the third officer wants to disobey orders and not take part in the mission! If another player hasn't responded in a timely fashion, move on so you can continue simming. But don't move ahead too quickly, too often -- you’ll be taking the fun away from others. Just try to treat other people how you would like to be treated yourself and you’ll often find yourself in the right place. WRITING COOPERATIVELY TAKES RESPECTPart of writing cooperatively is acknowledging other writers and their sensitivities. Our goal, as a community, is to respect each other with the way we write and ensure that our game is a safe place. We've often given our game a "PG-13" rating, which means that it's appropriate for anyone at or above the age of 13, similar in the way that movies are rated. But movie ratings can be too vague, so let's talk a little about what's acceptable, and what's not.
If you have questions about any of these guidelines, your captain is the best, first contact. Don't be afraid to reach out and ask your captain for further clarification – that's what they're there for! SEE ALSO
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| Starfleet Academy |
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