USS Eagle

Sim Form
The USS Eagle sim form is essentially the same form you were introduced to in training:

• Always include your character name, rank and title in the title line.
• At the beginning of each sim, clearly reference the location.
• Be descriptive, it improves the story for the reader.. And be accurate.. 
• Place speech behind the Characters name. you can use quotations to add clarity.
• Thoughts are placed in oO thought Oo
• Telepathic thoughts are as follows..  <<Look out!>>
• Place OOC comments in parenthesis. ((OOC: This is a really long document.))
• At the end of each sim place your name, rank, duty post, and ship. .
• Run Spell Check and Grammar Check if you have it. Avoid using the reply button and just adding to another’s sim. Rather, Cut and Paste adding your own characters, perspective, thoughts, and actions. This will make for stronger and more personal simms to help develop your character.

The sim form is important to facilitate clear communication, and is one of the criteria I will look at for promotion from Ensign to Lt. jg. If in doubt look to the Captain’s and senior officers’ sim form and emulate it.

Simming Standards

Frequency

• Full Time Simmer – 4+ times a week. (Important for Dept heads)
• Part Time Simmer – 2+ times a week. (See Captain)
• Secondary Simmer – Maintains an active character else where in the fleet, but still sims 3+ times a week.
• Any simmer who does not sim in 30 days will be placed on LOA..  If you can’t keep up, speak up.. 

Content
This is a Star Trek Sim the Content should be Trek in nature, and reflect the standards of the show. (example – you can’t beam through shields.)
UFOP is a PG-13 forum. Please keep everything sent to the site Clean. Simming a relationship is great, just don’t tell us what happens behind closed doors. Also vulgarities should be represented as —–or $%**&. Even then keep them at a minimum. This is the enlightened 24-century. Rule of thumb: if you don’t want your name attached to it on a giant public billboard don’t send it.
Please limit posts to the board to those messages relating to the USS Eagle sim site. No extraneous emails please. (Examples, don’t include jokes, pictures, and inspirational stories. to the main site list.) The UFOP OOC boards have categories for such things.

Sim theme
Keep in mind as you sim that Star Fleet is basically a military organization. Chain of Command is part of the Theme. In normal circumstances, a junior officer reports to the Department Head. The Department head reports to First or Second officer. The First and Second officers report to the Captain.
In emergencies call the Bridge, not the Captain who may not be on the Bridge. The Bridge is the center of the ship, receiving information and directing action. If the Bridge is disabled, the Auxiliary Bridge becomes the fall back point.

Away teams

1. Report down and safe. This is a SOP within Star Trek.
2. Inform the bridge of findings.
3. Ask permission when deviating in away from the mission briefing.
4. All away teams should be led by a Senior Command officer and contain at least 1 security officer.

Sim tips

1. The Best way to improve at simming is to sim.
2. Involve and Interact others when you sim.
3. Remember, once an idea is simmed, it can go in many directions.
4. If an error is made, always try to fix it in sim.
5. When simming with others always give them time to respond. UFOP standard is to wait 48 hours for response but no more than 72 hours. After that, continue on.
6. If this is the case and you need an answer, when simming for others, limit responses to 5 words or less. You can also do joint sims by using chat software, or exchanging emails. Command decisions should always be adhered to…
7. Do not create and solve a problem in one sim. Nor should one push the plot too far all at once. Doing so is called a Marathon sim, and while useful for administrative reasons, should be avoided where possible.
8. Avoid Meta simming; that is there may be times when the player knows exactly what is going on, but the character remains ignorant. Mysteries are often spoiled by Meta simming. The real fun is the process involved in solving the problem..
9. Alway be polite with each other. Everyone can have an off day or miss something. Ultimately this is a friendly game.
10. Expect consequences for IC actions. If someone phasers an innocent bystander, expect to be hauled up on charges. If you disobey an order, expect to be punnished.
11. Captains hate surprises. If you are planning a sudden plot twist that will re-write the mission contact the command officer to clear the idea. Sub-plots should be cleared first…
12. IC can bleed into OOC. Be careful when simming confrontations between characters. Often such sims should be proceeded by an OOC discussion that specifies what will happen, and how to resolve the confrontation, always prior to the simm.
13. Ultimately Simming is not about what you do, but how you do it. Character Development and Interactions are the reason to sim.

Sim philosophy
There is no I in TEAM!
Simming on the USS Eagle is a team effort, with everyone reading and playing off each others sims. Command staff will set the stage for large plots in the form of a mission briefing, back ground information, or background sims. A plot evolves one step at a time, expanding on and developing into the ideas laid out during the briefing. Eventually, the crew will move towards a graceful conclusion. The plot may actually travel quiet far from the original idea. This is only natural when everyone contributes.

Promotions
One cannot deny the appeal of promotion. Yet, each rank has its own pleasures. Promotion is not an end unto itself, but rather a side result of continuous quality simming. Many factors go into promotion. One is time; the average Captain has been in the club for at least 3 years. Many officers never achieve Captain, while others who do step down at some point. Even the best simmer needs time to learn the protocols of UFOP and how to handle fellow players. But, it takes more than putting in time to be promoted. Each simmer must reach certain markers of achievement to advance; the markers may not be necessarily the same for each simmer. Here are some examples…

Ensigns should be enthusiastic, using the proper sim form, and willing to adapt to their new ship.

Ensign to Lieutenant junior grade: An Ensign is promoted to Lieutenant junior grade once they demonstrate a mastery of the sim forms, ability to inter act with others, an ability to follow the ship’s basic plot, and consistency in their simming. The simmer will have completed a minimum of one mission aboard the ship before promotion to Ltjg.

Lieutenant junior grade to Lieutenant: Must achieve the following to be promoted to full Lieutenant. The simmer will sim reliably, push forward the plot, develop their character, and exhibit a willingness to assist other simmers.

Lieutenants to Lieutenant Commander: must move beyond the desires of personal glory to be promoted to Lieutenant Commander. A Lieutenant Commander Shows leadership by sacrificing their own role in the plot to encourage others to sim. For example, they may allow their primary character to be injured or detained to give their fellow simmers impetuous to sim. When faced with a chance to solve the entire mission they will leave others a chance to assist. The Lieutenant must be willing to reach out to new simmers in their sims; perhaps with something as simple as doing a welcome aboard conversation sim. When asked to assist the captain with OOC tasks a person deserving of Lieutenant Commander rank will show a willingness to help. Continued character development and details will also be evident. In many ways Lieutenant Commander is about the mastery of simming.

Lieutenant Commander to Commander: Lcmds are recommended for the command test when they show a continual desire to assist with the OOC activities of running a ship. Commander is the first rank at which the simmer moves to being staff of UFOP. To have anyone at the rank of commander who does not wish to or is unable to assist with the club work is unacceptable. There are many roles for that of a Commander, and many skills are involved in running a club like UFoP.. As captain I will look for concrete examples of what the individual has achieved. Do they participate on the message boards? Have they written an article for the Reporter? Do they assist with problem simmers? Would they help out in training? Have they entered a simm in the writing challenge..

As I said these are my guidelines; very often a Captain’s own instincts play a major role in promotions. Occasionally, feedback is offered to simmers to assist their advancement. However, feel free to ask for advice if your goal is to advance.  Hopefully these paragraphs will be enough to help you on your way….