Post by hszmv on Mar 10, 2016 13:09:32 GMT
Hello.
As many of you know, I've been working to address some concerns over the fleet's public reputation and our conduct in the greater RP community. After talking with many active and semi-inactive fleet members as well as past members and general RPers in public areas, I am happy to report that our reputation is not so far gone that it is beyond repair. However, there are some actions that we need to be mindful of moving forward.
First: We still hold that RP is by consent. At no point do I want to force anyone to RP in a way they are uncomfortable with. With that in mind, let's discuss the following points.
Second: The biggest issue much of the RP community has is that we come off as only RPing with our own fleet. This is causing us to appear as elitist. The truth of the matter is that we are a bit shy in public and gravitate to familiar faces. The other problem is a Stealth AFK that occurs from time to time (I know I'm guilty) and gives people the impression we are ignoring them. I would like our members to be mindful of these tendencies and work to correct them. At the very least, if you've been AFK for a bit without realizing it, or if there's a lot of chat in the room, send our an OOC message apologizing for missing anything directed at them. Also, try including a line about sending a PM to get your attention. This works very well if you have an XMPP interface up that will flash when you get a tell.
Third: While we do advocate RP by consent, we also are big advocates on helping people make their stories work for them. This does not give us license to critique bios or character choices or offer creative criticism. We want to set an example by the way storytellers the world over should approach such a matter: Show don't tell. Work with the player by playing with him or her. Never forget that some RPers are new to Star Trek or even RP and that everyone is just looking to have fun with their character.
Four: While in the fleet, we do have a few rules about character ages and general Mary-suism, these are not bans against playing with characters. You are fully allowed to RP with someone who is 21 year old admiral who was top of her class in Starfleet academy and flies a Borg Sphere. As stated above, they might not know these things are frowned upon. Rather than calling them out, just be a good character in your own right.
Five: Internally, a number of people have brought up how we have a problem about talking behind people's backs or being critical of our own fleet member's characters. Teamspeak in general has been a problem area for this. And again, I've been guilty of this in the past. I'm trying to make a goal of stopping this behavior in myself, as it has no place in our fleet's goal of promoting and developing stories. I apologize to those I have hurt with my previous behavior and will work to get better. I encourage others to try and make these changes as well. A few good players have left because our OOC has gotten too critical.
As a side note, while we allow a lot of freedom of discussion on the fleet channels and teamspeak, we do want people to feel like they can come to fleet leadership without repercussions if they are having problems with content in these conversations. One of the purposes of the Pathfinder system and the separation of IC and OOC powers is to allow members to bring up problems they are experiencing with leadership to other leadership in the fleet without repercussions. No one, not even the Pathfinders, is more important than other members of the fleet.
As many of you know, I've been working to address some concerns over the fleet's public reputation and our conduct in the greater RP community. After talking with many active and semi-inactive fleet members as well as past members and general RPers in public areas, I am happy to report that our reputation is not so far gone that it is beyond repair. However, there are some actions that we need to be mindful of moving forward.
First: We still hold that RP is by consent. At no point do I want to force anyone to RP in a way they are uncomfortable with. With that in mind, let's discuss the following points.
Second: The biggest issue much of the RP community has is that we come off as only RPing with our own fleet. This is causing us to appear as elitist. The truth of the matter is that we are a bit shy in public and gravitate to familiar faces. The other problem is a Stealth AFK that occurs from time to time (I know I'm guilty) and gives people the impression we are ignoring them. I would like our members to be mindful of these tendencies and work to correct them. At the very least, if you've been AFK for a bit without realizing it, or if there's a lot of chat in the room, send our an OOC message apologizing for missing anything directed at them. Also, try including a line about sending a PM to get your attention. This works very well if you have an XMPP interface up that will flash when you get a tell.
Third: While we do advocate RP by consent, we also are big advocates on helping people make their stories work for them. This does not give us license to critique bios or character choices or offer creative criticism. We want to set an example by the way storytellers the world over should approach such a matter: Show don't tell. Work with the player by playing with him or her. Never forget that some RPers are new to Star Trek or even RP and that everyone is just looking to have fun with their character.
Four: While in the fleet, we do have a few rules about character ages and general Mary-suism, these are not bans against playing with characters. You are fully allowed to RP with someone who is 21 year old admiral who was top of her class in Starfleet academy and flies a Borg Sphere. As stated above, they might not know these things are frowned upon. Rather than calling them out, just be a good character in your own right.
Five: Internally, a number of people have brought up how we have a problem about talking behind people's backs or being critical of our own fleet member's characters. Teamspeak in general has been a problem area for this. And again, I've been guilty of this in the past. I'm trying to make a goal of stopping this behavior in myself, as it has no place in our fleet's goal of promoting and developing stories. I apologize to those I have hurt with my previous behavior and will work to get better. I encourage others to try and make these changes as well. A few good players have left because our OOC has gotten too critical.
As a side note, while we allow a lot of freedom of discussion on the fleet channels and teamspeak, we do want people to feel like they can come to fleet leadership without repercussions if they are having problems with content in these conversations. One of the purposes of the Pathfinder system and the separation of IC and OOC powers is to allow members to bring up problems they are experiencing with leadership to other leadership in the fleet without repercussions. No one, not even the Pathfinders, is more important than other members of the fleet.