Posting Etiquette for the Holoworld Fleet
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This document contains the more or less canonical list of do's and don't's for
the Holoworld Fleet. Parts of it should be familiar to everyone. However, it
is still a good idea to read through this now and then. New players are
required to take note of this document during their time in the Academy.
Section One: General HWF Netiquette
Most of this is covered in the HWF Manual, available from the documents page
on the website, www.holoworld-startrek.org. A few things should be mentioned
here, due to their importance.
1) It is important that you do not do any of the following to another's
character without their permisson:
Marry,
kill,
maim, or
otherwise significantly change the life of the character.
2) When writing another person's character, try to stick closely to the
established guidelines and personality of the character. The other player
has most likely put a lot of time and effort into developing their
character and it would be poor etiquette indeed to alter the character for
them. The biography of the character is helpful when playing a character
of another that you are unfamiliar with, though just like real people,
well made characters take a while to get to know :-)
3) Remember that we are dealing with a written form of expression. The other
players cannot see your face, body language and movements, nor hear the
tone of your voice. Thus it is often hard to judge the intent or mood of
any NRPG comment you may make. Misunderstanding can sometimes happen as a
result. Try and make sure you understand your fellow player before you
take offense.
Smilies and other emoticons are useful here :-)
4) It is considered bad form to publicly criticize another player. If you
have a conflict or disagrement with another player, please deal with it in
the proper way.
a) If the problem is of a personal nature between you and the other
player, then please write a private e-mail to the player calmly
addressing the issue. Remember, you may be misunderstanding their
intent, so give them the benifit of the doubt in your e-mail. Ask them
what they meant, don't tell them :-) Please don't send a copy of this
e-mail to another player or administrator unless they are directly
involved in the problem, or you think they can help to solve the
problem through moderation. For RPG problems, the CO or GM can be
relied on in this capacity. For NRPG conflicts, the CO or Fleet CO can
be called on for help.
b) Remember that cross-postings and other such RPG difficulties are often
best handled by a fix post, usually by the CO of the unit.
c) Remember, this is interactive fiction. If you have plans for something
in a future post, don't assume others will know... after all, the
players are all humans :-) It is preferred to add an NRPG telling your
fellow players that you will continue your post, or that you don't
want them to do so-and-so.
The story written belongs to everyone, so if it goes in a different
direction than what you anticipated, remember, it is not just your
story, but the unit's. Have fun with the new direction, or be creative
about getting something to occur to your character or unit :-)
d) If none of the above work, you may use the chain of command. For
personal conflicts, start with your CO, SC, and finally the Fleet CO.
For RPG canon continuity, start with your CO, then the GM, SC, and the
Fleet XO.
e) Probably the most important point: remember that your fellow players
are very real humans, and they can be hurt. Strive to avoid such :-)
Written abuse of other players or Admin (open or veiled) is very
inappropriate. Words are powerful; choose words carefully.
5) NPC characters should be of equal or lesser rank than the character you
are playing on that unit, unless permission for a higher rank is obtained
from your CO. Non-commissioned officers (e.g. Petty Officers) or Ensigns
are best for long term use. It is considered polite to ask your CO before
promoting your NPC.
Section Two: Subject headers
Posts must have a subject header. Ideally, the subject should give the reader
some idea of what the post is about. Minimally, it must contain the unit's
name and some sort of title. The unit's name, in addition to helping people
who read the news group follow the thread, also helps people sort their mail
in their mailers.
Below are the guidelines for subject headers:
1) Even if your post is directly following that of another player, please
replace the subject header. A post starting with "Re:" makes most players
assume you are making an NRPG comment about the post to which it refers.
2) All posts from one unit should begin with the name of the unit in all caps
and be followed by the title of the post with only the first letter of
words capitalized.
Example: "USS HIKARU: The Discovery"
3) If the action happens outside the unit, for example on a planet, the
location is included between square brackets right after the unit's name.
Example: "USS HIKARU [Celdos II]: Meeting The Wakras"
An older format had a forward slash separating the unit's name and the
location, like this: "USS Hikaru/Celdos II: Meeting The Wakras". This
format is not in use anymore, but can be found in the archives.
4) The subject headers for non-role playing posts (NRPGs) don't have to
include the unit's name, because this is automatically added by the
Yahoo Groups mailing list system.
5) Arrows are used to show transfers from one unit to another.
Example: "SB OMEGA --> DS101: Ensign Jones Arrives"
6) Please try to avoid other punctuation such as dashes, underlines, slashes,
etc. to lessen confusion.
Section Three: Format Within The Post Itself
1) Every post should end with a proper salutation. Minimally, it should
contain your character's name, your character's posting, and your own
name. Abbreviations for character awards recieved can be placed after the
name of the character. Player awards would go after your own name.
Example: Respectfully submitted,
David Smith (BR, WM)
Lt. William Jones (WL)
FCO, USS HIKARU
Some players develop elaborate sigs (signatures) which contain all of
their characters and positions as well as some spiffy saying or thought.
This is up to you, of course, but should not be more than a few lines.
2) It is standard to start each post or section of a post with a line or two
indicating the stardate (start of post only), scene and time frame.
Example: SD. 11.0219
Scene: Mess hall
Time: After the funeral
The time is not always necessary, except when you feel it will help
clearify when your post is taking place in relationship to other posts.
3) Non-role playing notes (NRPGs) at the end of the post are prefaced with
"NRPG". They are used to explain something odd or something that may raise
questions from others. They can also be used to make comments to other
players or on their posts. For NRPGs longer than a few lines, it is best
to send it seperately to the NRPG list.
4) The use of blank lines between paragraphs makes posts easier to read.
5) Here are the symbols used for the different kinds of communication used in
the fleet.
a) "Regular speech uses double quotation marks."
b) [Intercoms and communicators use square brackets.]
Note: this only applies for speech from "the other end of the line".
c)
d) *Telepathic speech or private thought uses asterisks.*
e) +Single Borg talking uses a single plus sign.+
f) ++The Borg collective talking uses a double plus sign.++
g) ^Sign language goes between carets.^
h) ~Singing is done between tildes.~
Note: quotation marks can also be used, if one says the character
is singing.
i) Other forms may develop as needed.
Borg are not encountered often; in fact, they are not encountered at all
without the Fleet XO's approval. However, the communication marks are here
in the event that they appear, e.g., in a dream :-)
Section Four: Stardate System
Below is the system of stardates currently in use in the Holoworld Fleet.
Stardates help players to know when a post was written, and so which post
comes before another.
Stardates are in the form YY.MMDD.hhmm.
1) The first one or two digits represent the year. For 1996, we used the
digit 8. For 2005, it was 17. 2006 is 18 and 2007 will be 19. The year
digits are followed by a period, to make them stand out.
2) MM represents the month in two-digit format: 01 through 12.
3) DD represents the date in two-digit format: 01 through 31.
4) hhmm is the time in 24-hour military format. It is either normalized to
GMT or the player's timezone is mentioned. For PM times, just add 12 :-)
5) Example: The stardate for 5:30 PM EST, February 19, 2006 would be
18.0219.1730 EST
Section Six: Content
It is a long standing tradition within the Holoworld Fleet that posts are kept
within the spirit of Star Trek in language. Traditionally, this has meant that
cussing is kept within the parameters of the show and that that there are no
graphic scenes of intimacy, violation, or to a lessor degree, dismemberment.
Rather, such topics are dealt with in a manner that is veiled, just as they
are in the series and movies (the highest rating of which was PG-13 on the US
rating system). People, writting creatively, can have and have had many mature
things happen within this tradition. Each unit's CO should take into account
the ages of their players when determining how much is too much on their
particular unit, as well as taking this tradition into account. Each CO is
responsible for the RP environment on their unit.
It should be noted that Yahoo Groups has standards we must follow, and many
news servers will block out certain groups if the content is not kept within
the very same guidelines that are our tradition.
Section Seven: Misc
Note: While there is technically no rule against nominating yourself or your
character for an award, it is considered bad form.
Section Eight: Conclusion
The above is meant to help you and help keep the game fun for all. Having
fun is the primary purpose of the Holoworld Fleet :-)
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By Aly (with modifications by Ruud) for alt.holoworld.rpg.startrek
(c) 1999-2006 for alt.holoworld.rpg.startrek
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