Post by Ayche on Jun 24, 2013 22:44:15 GMT
The Storytellers.
Vision: To be a place for friends to come together and roleplay. No red tape, no nitpicking, no trying to grow beyond our means. No “Officers”, no “Admiralty”, no hassle. We want this to be a fun group. We want peoplewho are with us simply because they want to have fun in roleplay.
Ranks:
We used to say that Ranks don't exist in the fleet. And for the most part, they still don't. There is no tiered structure, no group commanding over another. When it comes to making big decisions for the fleet, then the majority has the say. We are democratic in that way. The general membership has the power to vote on any number of subjects, because we believe that the people in this fleet are capable of critical thinking, acting like adults, and coming to a concensus. When the people can't come to a concensus, then the Pathfinders are the ones who make a decision. What role do you want to be? That depends on what you want to do. Some roles do come with additional responsibility. The Roles are:
New Trial Member:
When you play most any MMO now adays, most of us start off with the free trial. A way to test out the game for a bit, to see if it's what we really want to play. That's what this role is meant to show. As much as we might be trying to gauge your place within the fleet, you are equally attempting to try US out as a fleet. Make sure we are the right kind of people you want to spend time with.
Roleplayer:
As a Roleplayer, you are the bread and butter of the fleet. You roleplay, you are free to start stories as you see fit, one shot ship RP's, whatever you want to start. This is the majority of what our membership entails.
Storyteller:
GM's for RP ships, GM's for big, open RP events, people who will run on-going stories anywhere can take this role. It allows you to be recognized as someone who can tell an ongoing story. If you want to be someone that people can come to when they need a GM, then take this role. It has very little responsibility, other then that.
Mentor:
This role is for those who have knowledge they wish to share, in some form or another. Canon information, help with character bios, instructing someone in how to RP. Again, any may be able to perform this task, but this role title grants others the ability to look through the roster, and see that you're there. If you are a new member, then a Mentor is a great person to start with when you're trying to ask questions. Mentors are also the people that, if you have a new person talking to you and you'd like to send them to someone else for recruitment, can be asked to perform the recruitment duty.
Guardian:
The most 'officer' Role that we have. A Guardian's job is to watch our chat to make sure the few rules we have are being followed. They also are to be in charge of basic discipline, and have the authority to ask someone to stop doing something. They also act as a Mediator, someone who can step into a conflict and try to hash out the details.
Mediator:
A go-between, and a moderator. Anyone with the Mediator role is meant to be someone that the fleet can talk to. If you have an issue, a grievance, or a question about something and don't want a Pathfinder to know about it, or don't want your name attached, then speak with a Mediator. They will make sure your issues are brought forward to the Pathfinders, while keeping your anonymity in tact. They are also there to help moderate discussions between groups, or even individuals. If you are having an argument with someone and need someone to act as a middle man, then speak with a Mediator.
Pathfinder:
The 'leadership' of the fleet, if one wishes to look at it that way. A Kritarchy, there are 3 pathfinders at the top so that no one person contains all of the power. The Pathfinders are there to be guides, and guardians, as well as to make the big, tough decisions that sometimes need to be made. While the fleet is a democracy, and everyone has a voice, the Pathfinders sit as the emergency decision makers.
The Rules:
The general list of rules for the fleet are fairly simple, and should be pretty much common sense.
One thing to remember! When looking at these rules, understand that we follow the spirit of the rule, not the exact wording. This means that we don't accept people trying to find a loophole in our rules to get away with things.
The main, over encompassing rule for the fleet is by one particularly well known Star Trek alumni, Wil Wheaton.
1. Wheaton's law: Don't be a dick! www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3ICRoe-QIw
This is meant mostly as an OOC rule, especially for our chats. 'Being a dick' when IC is fine, as In Character drama is more then welcomed. Outside of being In Character, though, everyone here is meant to try and get along. We don't want to see people whining about others, bitching that they didn't get their way, arguing, yelling, etc in our chat.
Remember that there's actually someone on the other side of that screen, and if you talked to them nasty like that to their face, you might get your ass kicked.
Bending of Wheaton's law will get you a talking to.
Outright breaking of Wheaton's law, such as insulting someone outright in Crossover, will be quashed then and there, and you will be pulled aside and talked to.
If you are asked by a Guardian, a Mediator, or a Pathfinder to cease a discussion, then please do it. Repeat offenders will be considered for muting, or banning from the chat channel. And we really don't want to do that to people.
2. Xing up for anything in Crossover is completely allowed. We just ask that you post what you are Xing up for along with it. "Xing for STF's". This is because of the fact that we are trying to get people who don't use TS, or only hop on for certain things, to get involved in things. If you prefer to keep your STFing private, then use a private channel to X up in.
If you randomly X up in crossover for something, be prepared to be asked what you are Xing up for. It's fair game, at that point.
If you see someone X up in crossover and want to know why, then ask. Don't go and bitch that you weren't involved, simply ask what is being done, and if they are allowing additions, if you want to join in.
3. IGNORE THE TROLLS! ...If you're being trolled, harassed, sprayed with extinguishers/poppers by anyone, then please just ignore them. Escalating things by calling them out, calling attention to their antics, or threatening to report is a waste of time. Ignore them, and continue your RP. Don't even bring up the names of fleets/people who you think are trolling, as this is against STO's terms of service.
4. Consent rule. In this fleet, we follow something called 'The consent rule'. The basic idea of this is simple: Only the person who controls their character may decide what can and can not happen to their characters. A character may not be injured, sick, or die unless the player says it's okay. This is, of course, a two-way street. Following the consent rule means you also have to understand that consequences will occur to your actions. If you are on the starbase and stab someone, for example, there is a good chance Security will try to arrest you. Now, you can try to get away, but that's up to you. We can't have people getting away with every litttle infraction, now can we? No. That would be godmoding. Godmoding isn't allowed.
We trust the player base to be able to work off one another and create a fun atmosphere.
5. Godmoding isn't allowed.
6. Drama. Dictionary.com has a definition of Drama that works fantastic for describing what we do in RP. "any situation or series of events having vivid, emotional, conflicting, or striking interest or results: the drama of a murder trial." As you can imagine, Drama goes a very long way when one is RPing. Yes, too much drama can overload the system, which is why we try to balance things out with some humor or combat every now and then. Or with moments when nothing is dramatic, everything's calm and normal.
Urban Dictionary dictionary defines Drama in this way: "A way of relating to the world in which a person consistently overreacts to or greatly exaggerates the importance of benign events. Typically "drama" is used by people who are chronically bored or those who seek attention. People who engage in "drama" will usually attempt to drag other people into their dramatic state, as a way of gaining attention or making their own lives more exciting."
As you can imagine, this second definition carries some negative connotations to it. In fact, it defines the very thing we /don't/ want to see. Especially OOCly. Basically, drama IC is great. Drama OOC isn't. If you have any drama OOC that needs to be taken care of, kindly keep it out of public channels, and seek some help in settling it, if you have to. Venting a little isn't terrible, but constant drama causes issues. Tears. Voids in the group. We are meant to be friends and family. We don't have to all get along, but at least try not to make things more difficult for the people you /do/ get along with.
7. Anything performed in RP is not set in stone. As an old Manager of mine once said, "It's written in marshmallow'. What does that mean? It means if something happens in an RP situation that people seem to not enjoy...bite that portion of the marshmallow away, and it's gone. Retconning, while not ideal, is something that can be done to fix a situation, and has happened several times to several members of our fleet.
Additional rules will more then likely come up, eventually.
Fleet Chat:
We do not utilize Fleet chat. Instead, we use a global chat channel. This allows us to keep in contact with individuals in the fleet no matter what character they are on. Whether on the KDF, or on a toon that's in a different fleet, it allows us all to be able to talk to one another.
We ask that anyone who utilizes our fleet channel try to act as cordial as possible. While we allow some rambunctiousness in the channel, at times, we do not want to see it descend into a string of madness and hatred. If you have an issue with someone/thing, speak to a Mediator or Pathfinder, or take it to private.
Our fleet chat /is/ moderated. It is rated at a PG-13 level, meaning no excess swearing or sexual content. An accidental Miss-tell can be forgiven. But otherwise, keep it clean. There are some under the age of 18 who play in our fleet, and some members have small children who enjoy watching their parents/grandparents play. So watch what you say.
Teamspeak:
Our fleet utilizes a Teamspeak 3 server for additional conversation. This is not mandatory, in the slightest. A warning, however: Teamspeak is far less moderated then normal chat. We often descend into tirades, tell dirty jokes, or have discussions of political natures. It's not a place for someone who isn't a little twisted. <.<
That being said, we do try not to out-and-out insult one another. Most of us understand that any joke at someone's expense is meant as just that - A joke. If you, however, do happen to hear something that's questionable, then by all means speak up about it! Most of the time, some of us don't realize how much of an ass we are being, and need a good slap in the face.
XMPP:
Ever notice how some people seem to play multiple characters in chat, while not changing toons? Or that someone is talking in Crossover, but doesn't appear online? That's because they are using a chat program that utilizes XMPP protocols to log into the chat server. Note, this only works for Gold members, but is nice to have if you're busy out of game, and want to keep tabs on fleet chat. The following link will help get you set up.
sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=159864&highlight=jabber
Conclusion:
In the end of it all, the Storytellers is meant to be a family. A group of friends. Yes, things will be disfunctional, yes we will argue. The point isn't to not argue, the point is to get over it when a fight happens, and to have fun!
Your part:
I, the undersigned, do solemnly swear to kick ass, and have as much fun as possible in RP with my follow fleet members. I also swear to try really, really hard to follow the rules, and expect to be told off harshly when I don't! ...What? Not serious enough? Who cares? I'm gonna have fun!